Fun with Japanese Expressions

The Japanese language is very expressive, and there are some interesting phrases one encounters from time to time, which I thought I’d share with you. When discussing something that’s very small in amount such as money, the phrase suzume no namida (su-zu-meh no nah-mi-da) is often used, literally meaning “the tear of a sparrow” which is probably very small indeed. Similarly, if you have a small house you might apologize to guests for living in a “house that’s as small as the forehead of a cat” (neko no hitai). The way to express flattery in Japan is goma-suri, lit. to grind up someone’s sesame seeds for someone, and if you laugh at your boss’s jokes too loudly he might tell you to “stop grinding up my sesame seeds!” The word Adam’s Apple comes from the Biblical story of Adam and Eve, but the name in Japanese is nodo-botoke (no-doh boh-toh-keh), or “Buddha of the Throat.”

Adam and Eve, as seen through the eyes of the Japanese.