気(き)のせい (ki no sei) literally means “because of (one’s) 気 (mind)” and figuratively “(something is) just one’s imagination/not real”.Read More

根に持つ literally means ‘have (something) at the root’. Figuratively it means you hold on to a bad memory about someone for a long time. Read More

道草(みちくさ)を食(く)う (michikusa o kuu) literally means ‘to eat grass on the road’. Figuratively, it means that you stop by somewhere and waste time/do something unplanned on the way to the destination. This idiom originates from how a horse suddenly stops and eats grass along the road.Read More

へそで茶(ちゃ)を沸(わ)かす (heso de cha o wakasu) literally means ‘I’d make tea using my navel’. If you say this phrase, it figuratively means that you think what someone has said is ludicrous and unrealistic, like making tea using your navel. Read More