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Yomi
むしのしらせ
Rōmaji
mushi no shirase
Type
idiom
Literal Meaning
an insect’s message/notification
Meaning
a premonition; a sign of something bad about to happen; the sixth sense
Additional Info
In the old days, an insect was believed to be in your body that gives you a premonition. This phrase is often used when you have a premonition of someone’s death, as in the example sentence below.
Synonym
不吉な予感
Example
突然昔の友人が夢に出てきて、後日、彼がその日亡くなったという事を知った。あれは虫の知らせだったのだろう。
Suddenly, one of my old friends appeared in my dream, and later I found out he had passed away on that day. It would have been the portent of the unfortunate incident.