132:
22:
654:
483:"Ocean-thousand, mountain-thousand" means "a sly old fox" or someone who has had all sorts of experience in life so that they can handle, or wiggle out of, any difficult situations through cunning alone. This meaning derives from an old saying that a snake lives in the ocean for a thousand years and in the mountains for another thousand years before it turns into a
496:
were adopted from classical
Chinese literature. Other four-character idioms are derived from Buddhist literature and scriptures, old Japanese customs and proverbs, and historical and contemporary Japanese life and social experience. The entries in the published dictionaries of
439:
By contrast, several thousands of these four-character compounds are true idioms in the sense that they have a particular meaning that may not be deduced from the literal meanings of the component words. An example of the highly idiomatic compound is:
147:
There are a very large number—perhaps tens of thousands—of four-character compounds. A great majority of them are those whose meanings can be easily deduced from the literal definitions of their parts. These compounds may be called
273:. Either way, the meaning of the compound is clear; there are no idiomatic meanings beyond the literal meanings of its components. Below are a few more examples of non-idiomatic
89:
include "four-character compound", "four-character idiom", "four-character idiomatic phrase", and "four-character idiomatic compound". It is equivalent to the
Chinese
131:
114:
characters, which may contain an idiomatic meaning or simply be a compound noun. However, in the narrow or strict sense, the term refers only to four-
487:. Hence a sly, worldly-wise person is referred to as one who has spent "a thousand years in the ocean and another thousand in the mountains".
668:
118:
compounds that have a particular (idiomatic) meaning, which cannot be inferred from the meanings of the components that make them up.
143:) and "season" are almost synonymous words, but the former, which consists of four kanji characters, gives a stronger impression.
534:, in that a great many of the former are adopted from the latter and have the same or similar meaning as in Chinese. Many other
1336:
1279:
1227:
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1346:
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21:
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A beautiful woman is destined to die young.; Beauty and fortune seldom go together. (Origin: Chinese classics)
776:
idling one's life away; dreaming away one's life accomplishing nothing significant (Origin: Chinese classics)
1341:
540:, however, are Japanese in origin. Some examples of these indigenous Japanese four-character idioms are:
1016:
a painting with an inscription or poem written by the artist themselves (as a non-idiomatic compound)
680:
1019:
singing one's own praises; blowing one's own horn; self-admiration (as an idiomatic compound)
883:
854:
Every meeting must involve a parting; Those who meet must part. (Origin: Buddhist scriptures)
828:
An evil cause produces an evil effect; Sow evil and reap evil. (Origin: Buddhist scriptures)
8:
243:. Alternatively, it can be regarded as consisting of two common two-character compounds:
1295:
Ito, Junko; Mester, Armin (2015). "Sino-Japanese phonology". In
Kubozono, Haruo (ed.).
80:
1275:
1223:
1185:
802:
crying wine and selling vinegar; extravagant advertisement (Origin: Chinese classics)
67:
57:
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40:
1071:
I alone am honored; holier-than-thou; Holy am I alone (Origin: Buddhist scriptures)
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1330:
1323:
being developed by The
Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group.
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938:
Harmony of mind between two persons; two persons acting in perfect accord.
1256:日中両国は千年以上にわたる文化交流があり、日本語の四字熟語・中国語の成語（大部分が漢字四文字で構成されている）も共通あるいは類似のものも少なくない。
110:
in the broad sense refers to
Japanese compound words consisting of four
510:
1219:
Figurative
Language: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Linguistic Perspectives
1190:
529:
92:
70:
882:(Every encounter is a) once-in-a-lifetime encounter (Origin:
75:
964:
smooth sailing with all sails set; everything going smoothly
1216:
Dobrovol'skij, Dmitrij; Piirainen, Elisabeth (2021-11-08).
1215:
912:
killing two birds with one stone (Origin: English proverb)
555:(uncanny romantic relationship formed by a quirk of fate)
724:
making a fortune at a stroke. (Origin: Chinese classics)
39:, meaning "revere heaven, love people". Calligraphy by
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The
Setsudai Review of Humanities and Social Sciences
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625:(singing one's own praises; tooting one's own horn)
990:to each their own; So many people, so many minds.
426:is itself a non-idiomatic four-character phrase.
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100:
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1271:Kodansha's Dictionary of Basic Japanese Idioms
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1297:Handbook of Japanese Phonetics and Phonology
1149:law of the jungle; stronger supersede weaker
1013:praise/an inscription written on a painting)
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511:Chinese and Japanese origins of idiomatic
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1274:. Kodansha International. pp. 7–8.
1267:
679:by adding descriptive text and removing
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20:
16:Japanese lexeme consisting of four kanji
1045:self-seeking; feathering one's own nest
429:
1329:
135:"Spring, summer, autumn and winter" (
1241:
1239:
647:
597:(romantic entanglement; love affair)
583:(sly old dog of much worldly wisdom)
183:. It is made up of four characters:
526:are closely related to the Chinese
13:
14:
1358:
1307:
1299:. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 302.
1245:
1236:
652:
644:Examples of idiomatic yojijukugo
569:(once-in-a-lifetime experience)
503:are typically limited to these
160:For example, the compound word
1288:
1261:
1209:
507:compounds of various origins.
1:
1337:Japanese writing system terms
1268:Garrison, Jeffrey G. (2002).
1254:(in Japanese) (25): 117–136.
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611:(a bystander's vantage point)
101:Definition and classification
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639:(double-dealer; timeserver)
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1319:- a list of about 5,800
1193:, the Sinitic equivalent
681:less pertinent examples
175:, "no smoking indoors")
144:
44:
884:Japanese tea ceremony
134:
24:
1175:basic human emotions
1097:as fast as lightning
1342:Japanese vocabulary
1248:"日中四字熟語・成語に関する調査研究"
949:gentle/favorable +
677:improve the article
177:is a non-idiomatic
73:consisting of four
410:, advertisement +
145:
81:Chinese characters
45:
1281:978-4-7700-2797-9
1229:978-3-11-070253-8
1186:Japanese proverbs
1123:one step each day
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1246:兪, 鳴蒙 (2018).
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661:This section
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580:umisenyamasen
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520:The Japanese
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473:, mountain +
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467:, thousand +
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452:umisenyamasen
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291:daigakukyōiku
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226:, prohibited)
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150:non-idiomatic
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1197:Sajaseong-eo
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923:different +
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703:ikkakusenkin
702:
689:October 2017
686:
675:Please help
663:may contain
662:
519:
504:
489:
482:
438:
419:
384:, history +
364:, relations)
306:, education)
164:okunaikin'en
159:
149:
146:
115:
111:
104:
74:
50:
46:
27:Keiten-aijin
18:
1030:own/self +
1024:gaden'insui
1009:self/own +
1005:painting +
1001:own/self +
943:junpūmanpan
891:issekinichō
860:ichigoichie
821:bad/evil +
813:bad/evil +
755:suiseimushi
717:thousand +
566:ichigoichie
479:, thousand)
196:, building)
139:Shunkashūtō
1331:Categories
1321:yojijukugo
1316:Yojijukugo
1203:References
1154:kidoairaku
1076:denkōsekka
969:jūnintoiro
917:itaidōshin
879:encounter)
839:meeting +
807:akuin'akka
781:yōtōkuniku
761:drunken +
669:irrelevant
594:irokoizata
537:yojijukugo
523:yojijukugo
514:yojijukugo
500:yojijukugo
493:yojijukugo
461:, ocean +
433:yojijukugo
430:Idiomatic
420:Note that
416:, effect).
401:sendenkōka
352:, Japan +
317:kankyōakka
276:yojijukugo
256:, indoors)
241:, smoking)
180:yojijukugo
154:yojijukugo
125:yojijukugo
107:Yojijukugo
86:yojijukugo
51:yojijukugo
1172:pleasure)
1168:sorrow +
1142:strong +
995:jigajisan
979:person +
847:always +
843:person +
769:dreamy +
739:person +
735:beauty +
665:excessive
622:temaemiso
505:idiomatic
358:, U.S. +
211:, inside)
1180:See also
1164:anger +
1090:stone +
1086:light +
1064:alone +
1034:field +
901:stone +
833:eshajōri
817:cause +
787:sheep +
713:grasp +
671:examples
552:aienkien
390:, novel)
387:shōsetsu
68:Japanese
58:Japanese
1314:四字熟語 -
1191:Chengyu
1138:meat +
1134:weak +
1060:self +
1056:only +
1038:draw +
957:full +
953:wind +
931:same +
927:body +
871:life +
825:effect)
791:head +
765:life +
743:thin +
530:chengyu
381:rekishi
297:daigaku
93:chengyu
1278:
1226:
1160:joy +
1116:one +
1112:day +
1108:one +
1042:water)
987:color)
983:ten +
975:ten +
961:sails)
905:two +
897:one +
875:one +
867:one +
795:dog +
773:death)
709:one +
485:dragon
407:senden
361:kankei
323:kankyō
303:kyōiku
261:kin'en
258:, and
246:okunai
228:, and
71:lexeme
1152:喜怒哀楽
1146:meal)
1144:shoku
1126:弱肉強食
1120:step)
1110:nichi
1100:一日一歩
1094:fire)
1074:電光石火
1048:唯我独尊
1022:我田引水
993:自画自賛
967:十人十色
941:順風満帆
935:mind)
915:異体同心
909:bird)
889:一石二鳥
858:一期一会
831:会者定離
805:悪因悪果
799:meat)
779:羊頭狗肉
753:酔生夢死
747:life)
727:美人薄命
721:gold)
701:一攫千金
349:nichi
116:kanji
112:kanji
76:kanji
66:is a
1276:ISBN
1224:ISBN
1170:raku
1136:niku
1132:jaku
1114:ichi
1106:ichi
1088:seki
1062:doku
933:shin
899:seki
895:ichi
873:ichi
865:ichi
797:niku
741:haku
711:kaku
707:ichi
630:二股膏薬
616:手前味噌
602:傍目八目
588:色恋沙汰
574:海千山千
560:一期一会
546:合縁奇縁
470:yama
446:海千山千
423:四字熟語
413:kōka
395:宣伝効果
369:歴史小説
337:日米関係
329:akka
311:環境悪化
285:大学教育
172:屋内禁煙
62:四字熟語
34:敬天愛人
1140:kyō
1080:den
1066:son
1054:yui
1040:sui
1032:den
1011:san
985:iro
977:nin
959:pan
955:man
947:jun
925:tai
907:chō
841:sha
819:aku
811:aku
771:shi
763:sei
759:sui
745:mei
737:jin
719:kin
715:sen
667:or
476:sen
464:sen
458:umi
355:bei
216:kin
201:nai
186:oku
1333::
1250:.
1238:^
1166:ai
1162:do
1158:ki
1118:po
1092:ka
1084:kō
1058:ga
1036:in
1028:ga
1007:ji
1003:ga
999:ji
981:to
973:jū
951:pū
929:dō
903:ni
869:go
849:ri
845:jō
823:ka
815:in
793:ku
789:tō
785:yō
767:mu
733:bi
633:,
619:,
605:,
591:,
577:,
563:,
549:,
449:,
398:,
372:,
340:,
314:,
288:,
279::
268:禁煙
253:屋内
231:en
213:,
198:,
157:.
97:.
60::
47:A
1284:.
1232:.
1156:(
1130:(
1104:(
1078:(
1052:(
1026:(
997:(
971:(
945:(
921:i
919:(
893:(
886:)
877:e
863:(
837:e
835:(
809:(
783:(
757:(
731:(
705:(
691:)
687:(
683:.
673:.
455:(
404:(
378:(
346:(
320:(
294:(
265:(
250:(
238:煙
235:(
223:禁
220:(
208:内
205:(
193:屋
190:(
169:(
79:(
64:)
56:(
43:.
37:)
31:(
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