御の字
おんのじ [on no ji] – This phrase describes something you’re so grateful for that it makes you want to use the honorific character 御. In other words…
土壇場
どたんば [dotanba] – Means, “at the last moment” or “in a very dire situation.” In the Edo period, criminals sentenced to decapitation were made to…
物色
ぶっしょく [busshoku] – Thing (物) + color (色) equals…? Yep! that’s right: “to search around looking for just the right thing”. Or…
立ち眩み
たちくらみ [tachikurami] – Ever wish there was a word to describe that annoying vertigo/”blacking out” sensation you get when you stand up suddenly?…
7 polite phrases foreigners aren’t supposed to know
One of the joys of learning Japanese is seeing that shocked and dumbfounded look on native speakers’ faces when you fire off a difficult word or phrase that even they probably wouldn’t have come up with. You get to smile snobbishly and think to yourself: Ha! you didn’t see THAT coming, did you!?
正念場
しょうねんば [shounenba] – The word 正念 comes from Buddhism, and refers to “Right mindfulness”, part of the Noble Eightfold Path to enlightenment…
能天気
のうてんき [nou tenki] – “Ability” (能) + “Weather” (天気) = being carefree, or a person who is carefree (perhaps recklessly so)…
腐れ縁
くされえん [kusare en] – 縁 here is a kind of “destined to be” relationship to someone. And if it’s rotten (腐れ) , then we’re talking about…
ばついち
[batsu ichi] – Batsu is the ‘x’ character and ichi means ‘one’. Together, batsu ichi is a colloquial word that refers to someone who has divorced their first spouse.
韋駄天走り
いだてんばしり [idaten bashiri] – a “Skanda dash”, refers to running with great speed. Skanda is a Buddhist deity, who in folk lore was said to have chased down…
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