kuchi kara saki ni umareru lit. ‘to be born mouth first’
Japanese idiom, casual. To talk a lot, often without stopping.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Japanese speaker.
How do people use 口から先に生まれる
?
A teasing, slightly mocking remark about someone who never stops talking or always has a comeback. It’s almost always in the past tense: “口から先に生まれたんじゃないの” (weren’t you born mouth first?) or “口から先に生まれたような人” (a person who seems to have been born mouth first). Say it to friends with a grin; to anyone else it’s rude.
Also said 口から先に生まれたような人, 口から先に生まれた
口から先に生まれる
in real sentences
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まあよく喋るね。口から先に生まれたんじゃないの。
Mā yoku shaberu ne. Kuchi kara saki ni umareta n ja nai no.
You sure gab a lot don’t you? You’re a natural born talker.
Tatoeba, sentence by small_snow, translation by CM, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does 口から先に生まれる
come from?
The Daijisen (via Kotobank) defines it as a jeering phrase for people who talk too much or are too quick with words. It gives no date or source, and none turns up elsewhere. The joke is the image itself: a baby arriving mouth first so it can start talking straight away.
Mistakes learners make with 口から先に生まれる
Using it as praise for a good public speaker. The Daijisen marks it as mocking, so for real admiration of fluent speech use 立て板に水 (water poured on a standing board) instead.
Other Japanese idioms like 口から先に生まれる
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