日常茶飯事 (nichijousahanji): ‘As Ordinary As Drinking Tea and Eating Rice’

Pronunciation

Definition

日常茶飯事 (にちじょうさはんじ, nichijousahanji) indicates a common or daily event/incident. This word is often used with a bit of irony to indicate a negative incident that is not supposed to happen frequently. For instance, “残業ざんぎょうは日常茶飯事だ” (zangyou ha nichijou sahanji da) means “working overtime is 日常茶飯事 (quite usual)” and “暴力ぼうりょくは日常茶飯事だ” (bouryoku ha nichijou sahanji) means “Violence is common/prevalent”. This word is also used to describe something so common that nobody regards it as a special event anymore.

Word Structure

日常茶飯事 consists of the two words “日常にちじょう” (nichijou) and “茶飯事さはんじ” (sahanji). The former means “daily life”, and is included in the title of a famous Japanese anime “男子だんし高校生こうこうせいの日常” (danshi koukousei no nichijou), that is “Daily Lives of High School Boys”. When used as “日常にちじょう的てき” (nichijou teki), it works as a na-adjecitve meaning “daily”. For instance, “日常的な光景こうけい” means “daily scene” and “日常的な場面ばめん” means “daily situation”.

The latter word “茶飯事” (sahanji) means “common/ordinary events” and is composed of an interesting combination of the three kanji characters: the first kanji “茶さ” (sa) means “tea“, the second “飯はん” (han) means “rice” or “meal“, and the last one “事 じ” (ji) means “thing“. Therefore, it describes an event that is as common or ordinary as drinking tea and eating rice for Japanese people.

Pronunciation

日常にちじょう茶飯事さはんじ is pronounced as “nichijou sahanji”. In general, 茶 is pronounced as “cha” as in “お茶ちゃ” meaning “tea”, but here it is pronounced as “さ (sa)“. This unusual pronunciation also applies to a few other words such as “喫茶店 きっさてん (kissaten)” meaning “cafe” and “茶道さどう (sadou)” meaning “tea ceremony”.

Example Sentences

Ex1
A: 学内がくないで無料むりょうでBBQ食たべれるなんてすごくない？
B: なあに、オーストラリアでは日常茶飯事だよ
A: Isn’t it great that we can have free BBQ on campus??
B: Well, it is 日常茶飯事だ (very common) here in Australia.

Ex2
彼かれが遅刻ちこくするのは日常茶飯事だ
It is 日常茶飯事だ(quite usual) that he comes late.

Ex3
時代じだい遅おくれの会社かいしゃでは、上司じょうしによるアルハラは日常茶飯事だ
In old-fashioned companies, it is 日常茶飯事だ（common） that a boss forces his/her subordinates to drink alcohol.

(Note) アルハラ is an abbreviation of the Japanese-English term “alcohol harassment”. Learn more at : セクハラ and its derivatives

Synonyms: 日常的にちじょうてきな出来事できごと（a daily event）
Synonyms in English: common, daily, everyday, usual
Related words and phrases: 日常にちじょう (daily life)

See also

List of Japanese Words Rooted in 茶 (cha) and Japanese Tea Cultures