Japanese idioms about brains

Each Japanese idiom below comes with what its words literally say, what it means and how other languages put the same idea. To see every language at once, open the side-by-side page for brains.

  1. 頭のネジが外れている

    atama no neji ga hazurete iru

    lit. ‘the screw in your head has come off’

    Someone is a bit crazy, or is acting as if they've lost their mind.

    Elsewhere

  2. 目が節穴

    me ga fushiana

    lit. ‘your eyes are knotholes’

    To miss something that is obvious to everyone else.

    Elsewhere

  3. ちんぷんかんぷん

    chinpunkanpun

    lit. ‘gibberish (a made-up sound, roughly “chin-pun-kan-pun”)’

    I can't understand any of it.

    Elsewhere

  4. 井の中の蛙

    i no naka no kawazu

    lit. ‘a frog in a well’

    Someone who only knows their own small world and thinks it's everything.

    Elsewhere

  5. 借りてきた猫

    karite kita neko

    lit. ‘a cat that has been borrowed (and brought over)’

    Someone who feels uncomfortable and out of place in unfamiliar surroundings.

    Elsewhere

  6. 上の空

    uwa no sora

    lit. ‘the sky up above’

    To be lost in thought and not paying attention.

    Elsewhere

  7. 見当もつかない

    kentō mo tsukanai

    lit. ‘can’t even get a bearing’

    To have no idea at all.

    Elsewhere

  8. 月とすっぽん

    tsuki to suppon

    lit. ‘the moon and a soft-shelled turtle’

    To compare or mix up two things that don't belong together.

    Elsewhere

Phrases in bold with a red marker are written up. The rest are waiting for their own page and a check by a native speaker.