suzume no namida lit. ‘a sparrow’s tears’
Japanese idiom, everyday. For a very small amount of money.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Japanese speaker.
How do people use 雀の涙
?
Everyday Japanese for a pitiful amount, and nearly always about money people receive: pay, a bonus, interest on savings, a pension. It usually comes with ほど or 程度 (“about as much as”) and then a noun, as in 雀の涙ほどの給料 (a sparrow’s-tears salary). It complains about how little you get and isn’t used for a bargain you’re happy with.
Also said 雀の涙ほど
雀の涙
in real sentences
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雀の涙ほどの給料では何の役にも立たない。
Suzume no namida hodo no kyūryō de wa nan no yaku ni mo tatanai.
The chicken feed I get for a salary is good for nothing.
Tatoeba, sentence by fcbond, translation by fcbond, CC BY 2.0 FR
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ここの給料は、雀の涙程度よ。
Koko no kyūryō wa, suzume no namida teido yo.
The pay here is a joke.
Tatoeba, sentence by small_snow, translation by sundown, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does 雀の涙
come from?
Nobody claims to know who first said it, and the picture explains itself: if a sparrow is tiny, its tears must be tinier. Nihon Kokugo Daijiten’s first example is Miura Shumon’s novel Seruroido no tō (1959), where a pay rise is expected to be “about a sparrow’s tear”. Japanese Wiktionary quotes an earlier use, by the writer Satō Kōseki in 1951, so the phrase is at least that old.
Mistakes learners make with 雀の涙
Using it for something sold cheaply, like a bargain you found at a flea market. 雀の涙 measures a tiny amount someone gets, so for a giveaway price you’d say 二束三文 or just 安い.
Other Japanese idioms like 雀の涙
Spot a mistake in 雀の涙
?
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