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 work.
-
To have a lot of work or problems to deal with at once.
-
To be very lazy and avoid work.
Elsewhere
-
To get two things done with a single action.
-
To be stuck and unable to work something out.
Elsewhere
-
画竜点睛
garyō tensei
lit. ‘painting a dragon, dotting in the eyes’
Something extra that makes a good thing even better.
Elsewhere
-
Even the most skilled people sometimes make mistakes.
Elsewhere
- EN Even Homer nods
- FR Il n’y a si bon cheval qui ne bronche
- ES Al mejor cazador se le va la liebre
- IT Sbaglia anche il prete all’altare
-
Something is very easy to do.
Elsewhere
-
To keep putting something off instead of dealing with it.
-
牛歩
gyūho
lit. ‘an ox’s walk’
Very slowly.
Elsewhere
-
To give up and admit defeat.
Elsewhere
Phrases in bold with a red marker are written up. The rest don’t have their own page yet.