aita kuchi ga fusagaranai lit. ‘the mouth that fell open won’t close’
Japanese idiom, everyday. To be so astonished you can hardly believe what you’re seeing or hearing.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Japanese speaker.
How do people use 開いた口が塞がらない
?
Everyday Japanese for the jaw-drop moment. It almost always carries a note of disbelief at something outrageous: a ridiculous excuse, a shameless answer, a bill that makes no sense. It’s often in the past, “開いた口が塞がらなかった”, and the older ぬ ending (塞がらぬ) still turns up in writing.
Also said 開いた口がふさがらない, 開いた口が塞がらぬ
開いた口が塞がらない
in real sentences
-
聞いた時、開いた口が塞がらなかったよ。
Kiita toki, aita kuchi ga fusagaranakatta yo.
When I heard about it, my jaw dropped.
Tatoeba, sentence by small_snow, translation by cost_, CC BY 2.0 FR
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その返事には開いた口が塞がらなかった。
Sono henji ni wa aita kuchi ga fusagaranakatta.
That answer left me speechless.
Tatoeba, sentence by KK_kaku_, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does 開いた口が塞がらない
come from?
It’s a description of the face: your mouth drops open in shock and you’re too stunned to close it. Daijisen (via Kotobank) lists it under the older form 開いた口が塞がらぬ, defined as being so amazed and appalled you can’t say a word. Japanese Wiktionary quotes Dazai Osamu using it in Nyoze gamon (1948); I couldn’t find an earlier dated example, and nobody tells a story about where it came from.
Mistakes learners make with 開いた口が塞がらない
Using it for happy surprises. The dictionary sense is to be so amazed and fed up that you can’t speak, so for a wonderful gift or a great result use 目を丸くする or びっくりする instead.
Other Japanese idioms like 開いた口が塞がらない
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?
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