tsuki to suppon lit. ‘the moon and a soft-shelled turtle’
Japanese idiom, everyday. To compare or mix up two things that don’t belong together.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Japanese speaker.
How do people use 月とすっぽん
?
Everyday and blunt: you say it when two things are so far apart in quality that comparing them is silly. It’s a noun phrase with だ (“月とすっぽんだ”) or with ほど (“月とすっぽんほどの違い”). The moon is always the better one, so it can be rude about the turtle side.
Also said 月と鼈, 月とスッポン
月とすっぽん
in real sentences
-
月とすっぽんだ。
Tsuki to suppon da.
They are as different as day and night.
Tatoeba, sentence by KK_kaku_, translation by CS, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does 月とすっぽん
come from?
Nihon Kokugo Daijiten (via Kotobank) quotes the jōruri play Ashiya Dōman Ōuchi Kagami (1734): “as different as the moon and a soft-shelled turtle”. Its explanation is that both are round, yet one hangs in the sky and the other sits in the mud. It also mentions a theory that すっぽん was originally 素盆, a plain lacquer tray, but gives it only as a theory.
Mistakes learners make with 月とすっぽん
Using it for two things that are just different kinds, like tea and coffee. It ranks them: one is far better, so it’s closer to “chalk and cheese” than to neutral apples and oranges.
Other Japanese idioms like 月とすっぽん
Spot a mistake in 月とすっぽん
?
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