Yomi へでもない Rōmaji he demo nai Type idiom Literal Meaning not even a fart Meaning trivial; have no value or impact; nothing Synonym 大したことない, 痛くも痒くもない Additional Info Synonym of 大したことない (“not a big deal”) or 痛くも痒くもない (“not painful or itchy”) Example 好きな人にみんなの前で告白してフラれた時の辛さと比べたら、こんなの屁でもない This is nothing compared to the hardship that I experienced when I confessed my love to my crush and got rejected in front of everyone.Read More

Yomi はやいものがち Rōmaji hayai mono gachi Type idiom Literal Meaning people who come early win Meaning First come, first served Synonym 先着順 Additional Info It sounds slightly childish compared to its synonym, 先着順 (せんちゃくじゅん), meaning “first-arrive order”. Its near-antonym is a proverb 残り物には福がある, meaning “a fortune is in the remnants”; a similar concept to “good things come to those who wait”. Example チョコレート欲しい人はこっちにおいで！早い者勝ちだよ！ If you want chocolates, please come here! First come, first served!Read More

Yomi ひやかし Rōmaji hiyakashi Type idiom Literal Meaning something that cools off things Meaning 1. people (or whose behaviour) who look around a shop in a non-serious (or even mocking) manner, with no intention whatsoever to purchase an item or service there. 2. the act of making fun of someone Additional Info Its verb form is 冷やかす. Originally, it means “to look around women in a brothel just for fun and leave without spending money”. Therefore, it is still often used in that sense, but is also used for other things like entering a kimono shop, taking lots of pictures of the items, and leaving the store without buying anything….Read More

Yomi きんぎょのふん Rōmaji kingyo no fun Type idiom Literal Meaning goldfish poop Meaning people who always follow or tag along with a particular person Additional Info This idiom originates from the fact that when goldfish takes a poop, it often remains attached to the fish as if following it. It is usually used as 金魚のフンのように or 金魚のフンみたいに, both meaning “like a goldfish poop” (often sarcastic). フン can be written as 糞 in kanji as well. This expression might be getting a little old-fashioned; a more famous idiom which has a similar (albeit not the same) meaning is probably 虎の威を借る狐, which literally means “a fox that borrows the authority of a…Read More

Yomi なかせの Rōmaji nakase no Type idiom Literal Meaning make (someone) cry Meaning cause a lot of trouble to (someone) Example 「…泣かせの」という言い回しは、機械翻訳泣かせの表現だ The phrase “…泣かせの” is an expression that causes a lot of trouble for machine translation 同時通訳者泣かせの早口な演説者 A fast speaker who causes a lot of trouble for simultaneous interpretersRead More