shinkei o sakanade suru lit. ‘stroke the nerves the wrong way’
Japanese idiom, everyday. To annoy or irritate someone.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Japanese speaker.
How do people use 神経を逆撫でする
?
Everyday Japanese, common in news and opinion writing: a minister’s remark “国民の感情を逆撫でする” (rubs the public’s feelings the wrong way). It’s always someone’s nerves or feelings that get stroked, so you name whose: “彼女の神経を逆撫でする”. Often in the form 逆撫でするような (the kind of thing that grates).
Also said 神経を逆なでする
神経を逆撫でする
in real sentences
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私は彼女の神経を逆撫でしそうな声色を選び、笑いながら言った。
Watashi wa kanojo no shinkei o sakanade shisō na kowairo o erabi, warainagara itta.
I picked a tone of voice that was sure to rub her the wrong way, and said it with a laugh.
Tatoeba, sentence by marcelostockle, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does 神経を逆撫でする
come from?
The picture is fur. The Daijisen dictionary (via Kotobank) gives 逆撫で first as stroking hair or fur against the way it grows, and second as acting in a way that puts someone in a bad mood. Anyone who has stroked a cat backwards knows the reaction. I found no date for the first figurative use.
Mistakes learners make with 神経を逆撫でする
Mixing it up with 神経を尖らせる (to sharpen your nerves). That one means you’re tense and on edge yourself. English Wiktionary even lists it under get on someone’s nerves, which is the wrong direction.
Other Japanese idioms like 神経を逆撫でする
Spot a mistake in 神経を逆撫でする
?
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