me to hana no saki lit. ‘the tip between eyes and nose’
Japanese idiom, everyday. A very short distance away.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Japanese speaker.
How do people use 目と鼻の先
?
Everyday Japanese for a place that’s just around the corner, used in directions and small talk: 駅はここから目と鼻の先だ (the station is a stone’s throw from here). It works as a noun with だ or です, or with にある for where something is.
Also said 目と鼻の間
目と鼻の先
in real sentences
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その店は私の家の目と鼻の先にある。
Sono mise wa watashi no ie no me to hana no saki ni aru.
The store is close to my house.
Tatoeba, sentence by bunbuku, translation by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
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市役所はもう目と鼻の先だよ。
Shiyakusho wa mō me to hana no saki da yo.
The city hall is just around the corner.
Tatoeba, sentence by small_snow, translation by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does 目と鼻の先
come from?
Nihon Kokugo Daijiten’s first example is a haikai verse in a 1647 supplement to the anthology Kefukigusa that plays on 目と鼻の間 by swapping in 木の芽 (tree buds) and 花 (flowers). The wording with 先 shows up in its quote from Kubota Mantarō’s Yuku toshi (1928-29). The picture is simply the few centimeters from your eyes to the tip of your nose.
Mistakes learners make with 目と鼻の先
Mixing it up with 目の前 (me no mae, “right in front of your eyes”). 目の前 means something you can see right in front of you or a deadline that’s coming, while 目と鼻の先 is about places a short walk away.
Other Japanese idioms like 目と鼻の先
Spot a mistake in 目と鼻の先
?
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