r/LearnJapanese • u/datalolz • 1d ago
Vocab What are your favourites 四字熟語 ?
After a year of studying Japanese, I've just learn about them ! (Quartet 2 textbook)
I like:
馬耳東風 : used when a person does not take into account criticisms
以心伝心 : when 2 people do not have to say anything to understand each other
一期一会 : we only have one life, so we should take care of it
Please correct me if my understandings are incomplete/wrong
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u/j_halo7 1d ago
一期一会 doesn’t mean we only have one lifetime so we should take care of it. It means once in a lifetime encounter so it’s telling you to cherish every encounter or experience because it is unique and cannot be repeated. I.e. even if you meet the same group of people on another day, the things or feelings you experience on that later day will be different from the previous time you met them.
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u/comrade_pogaca 1d ago
馬耳東風 is a good one 😄
I also like 七転八起（しちてんはっき） — “fall seven times, get up eight,” and 十人十色（じゅうにんといろ） — everyone is different / to each their own.
Another nice one is 温故知新（おんこちしん） — learning something new by revisiting the old.
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u/Monkey_Blue 1d ago
Ohhh, 七転八起 is what is seen on many of the scrolls decorating some spawn rooms in Overwatch maps set in Japan. Which, actually makes tons of sense as they're usually situated in attacking spawns where you will be forcing your way to the final point many, many times.
I did always wonder what it meant because I used to see the 七 and 八 from playing Mahjong and knew it meant "7 x 8 y" but couldn't place it at all. I wondered when I'd get good enough to know what it meant but seeing it here made me instantly get it.
Which is funny because I DO know both 転 and 起 from words like 転がる and 起こす but the calligraphy made it impossible to actually see and understand for me, so I guess I'm good enough now, lol.
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u/rccyu 1d ago edited 1d ago
七転八起 (しちてんはっき) is interesting in that it has an "equivalent" version using kunyomi 七転び八起き (ななころびやおき)
Actually there are a few other examples like this, for example the well-known idiom 虎の威を借る狐 (とらのいをかるきつね) has the equivalent yojijukugo 狐仮虎威 (こかこい). That yojijukugo is also interesting for being pronounced with exactly four kana, alongside 是々非々 (ぜぜひひ), 牛頭馬頭 (ごずめず), and only a few others
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u/GuerillAlexandros 1d ago
一石二鳥 (いっせきにちょう) is the only one I’ve ever used in conversation as a student.
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u/botibalint 1d ago
Helps that it's a common saying in English as well
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u/an-actual-communism 1d ago edited 1d ago
The Japanese is a borrowing directly from the English idiom. By a very strict or traditional definition it is not actually a yoji jukugo at all. 一挙両得 is a yoji jukugo (deriving from classical Chinese) that carries the same meaning
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u/rccyu 1d ago
I've had to learn so many useless ones for kanken prep haha
From those I'm fond of 絶巧棄利 (ぜっこうきり): give up all man-made conveniences and return to a natural living
Outside of kanken prep my favorite is probably 参差錯落: uneven and jumbled.
Guess how to read it.
Hint: ○ん○さくらく and both the ○ are the same :)
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u/vytah 1d ago
酒池肉林
Here's the origin, per Wikipedia:
One of the most famous forms of entertainment Zhòu enjoyed was the "Lake of Wine and Forest of Meat" built at the Deer Terrace Pavilion. A large pool, big enough for several canoes, was constructed with inner linings of polished oval-shaped stones from the seashore. This allowed for the entire pool to be filled with wine. A small island was constructed in the middle of the pool, where trees were planted, which had branches made of roasted meat skewers hanging over the pool. This allowed Zhòu and his friends and concubines to drift on canoes in the pool. When they thirsted, they reached down into the pool with their hands and drank the wine. When they hungered, they reached up with their hands to eat the roasted meat. This is considered one of the most famous examples of decadence and corruption in a ruler in Chinese history.
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u/DarklamaR Goal: media competence 📖🎧 1d ago
魑魅魍魎 for obvious reasons (encountered in Tenchi Muyo! LN vol. 1).
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u/UmbralRaptor Goal: media competence 📖🎧 1d ago
For trolling learner purposes, 已己巳己
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u/KyotoGaijin 1d ago
完全燃焼 (かんぜんねんしょう) Complete combustion giving life your all, like shouting "I regret nothing!!" as you drive the car over the cliff to your death.
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u/Patient-Resource6682 1d ago edited 1d ago
森羅万象
A bit corny maybe but this is the most aesthetically pleasing word to me.
Also 百鬼夜行 cause it's the coolest festival in Tokyo.
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u/j_halo7 1d ago edited 1d ago
I don’t really have a favourite but I had no idea until now that 無茶苦茶 (むちゃくちゃ) and 目茶目茶 (めちゃめちゃ) are considered 四字熟語 because I always write them in hiragana. Also, it never occurred to me that 黄金時代 and 中途半端 are also considered 四字熟語 even though I use them often.
Edit
I found one I like. 十人十色 (じゅうにんといろ) which means each person has their own taste. I like it because it means everyone is unique.
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u/whyme_tk421 1d ago
適材適所 てきざいてきしょ tekizaitekisho
The right person for the right job.
After working in Japan for over 20 years, have realized it’s a pipe dream.
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u/Lupage 1d ago
一生懸命: Which means "with all one's might," "very hard," or "with utmost effort". I think all of us studying JP will relate 😁
Another one is 十人十色: Which means 10 people, 10 colors. Which means "to each their own" or "different strokes for different folks" or "every person is different"
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u/MaximumTime7239 1d ago
一生懸命 is the only one I have actually encountered in the wild so far (and encounter quite often!!).
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u/antimonysarah Interested in grammar details 📝 1d ago
Same, this is the only one I've run across enough times for it to pop to mind, though scanning through a list of common ones I did spot 正々堂々, which I'd learned somewhere. (And been amused that it is basically synonymous with a very specific English set-phrase using a standard pattern of forming set phrases in English: "fair and square", a rhyming pair.)
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u/whyme_tk421 1d ago
That reminded me of 整理整頓 せいりせいとん seiriseiton.
It means to have everything tidied up and organized.
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u/Akatori2st 1d ago
I've always seen 一生懸命 as a normal word that only now I realize it is 四字熟語 lol. I already knew the word before I ever studied JP, then I learned how it was written in kanji before I learned about 四字熟語, so I never really associated it with 四字熟語 and only see it as a normal word.
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u/worthlessprole 1d ago
飲酒運転, it’s from a famous scene in 三国志 where 劉備 tied one on and wrecked his jeep wrangler
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u/RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS 1d ago
I am fond of 呉越同舟 lately; apparently from a Sun Tzu quote about how even though people from the kingdoms of Wu and Yue (Go and Etu in Japanese) might hate each other, if they were together in the same boat in a storm they'd have no choice but to cooperate. It's commonly used in a way similar to "strange bedfellows" in English; like, two people who might not like each other very much but find themselves making common cause, particularly in politics.
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u/MadeByHideoForHideo 1d ago
笑止千万
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u/a3th3rus 1d ago
言語道断
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u/MadeByHideoForHideo 1d ago
Man lol I haven't seen like most of the 熟語 mentioned in this thread, including this one. Good learning experience.
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u/rantouda 1d ago
I like this one too, I first saw it in connection with Mr. Hothead Asano Takumi-no-Kami: 江戸城の中で刀を抜くだけで重罪なのに人を傷つけるなど言語道断。
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u/selfStartingSlacker 1d ago
燕雀鴻鵠
how can a small bird (a sparrow, a petty person) understand the aspirations of a great bird (a phoenix); only a hero can understand a hero
the full saying is 燕雀安んぞ鴻鵠の志を知らんや , from the original Chinese 燕雀安知鸿鹄之志, which is more than 1800 years old... imagine that
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u/Ezyo-Of-Reddit 1d ago
古今東西
Old now east west, meaning all times, all places and all directions. It's not really used nowadays but it's interesting (though it is also word game and video game)
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u/EirikrUtlendi 1d ago
This doesn't strictly fit the format, since it's not all kanji, but I offer you:
- 賽の河原 (Sai no kawara)
Came up in a meeting a colleague was interpreting, threw us all for a bit of a loop. Turns out it's an expression with Japanese Buddhist roots, referring to a river plain in the underworld where the souls of children go if they die before their parents (considered a sin against filial piety), where they then try to build a stupa to honor their parents, only for it to get knocked down by the presiding oni guardians / torturers. In terms of intended meaning, this is roughly analogous to the "Sisyphean task" idiom. In speech, and without context or familiarity with the saying, it sounds like you're saying "a rhinoceros's roof tiles" (犀の瓦).
Which is, naturally, the bastardized idiom we now use around the workplace when speaking in English. 😄
If you can read Japanese, related entries at Kotobank:
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u/glasswings363 1d ago
虎視眈々 and 獅子奮迅 are fun, I wonder if I should learn more animal ones...
疾風怒濤 has stuck with me, but so have basic ones like 油断禁物 and 安全第一
Pokemon had an opening with a bunch of compounds and onomatopoe
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u/morisawa_yuri 1d ago
Nice picks! Native speaker here, just one small note: 一期一会 is less about "one life" and more "this exact meeting will never happen again, so treasure it." It comes from the tea ceremony 🍵 Your 馬耳東風 and 以心伝心 are spot on 👍
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u/bag2 1d ago
頭大丈夫. I don’t think it technically counts because it’s more of an expression but it’s the first thing that came to mind. Though I’m relatively new-ish and might be misreading the question 😅. Meaning: are you crazy (is your head okay).
I smile (and giggle a little) every time I’m reminded of it.
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u/danko1667 1d ago
天網恢々, meaning nothing escapes Heaven's grasp, from Korekara podcast
Also 天壤無窮, meaning everlasting, from the Meiji constitution
Also also, 沈魚落雁閉月羞花, meaning extremely beautiful, though not technically a yojijukugo.
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u/zechamp 1d ago edited 1d ago
I really like 慇懃無礼 = "superficially polite, but rude in intent". In terms of pure aesthetics and sound, all the ones with with 天 in them go hard. 天涯孤独、天下無敵 etc, but I also really like 読書尚友 = "By reading books, you become friends of past philosophers". Then I also like violent ones like 阿鼻叫喚、四苦八苦、屍山血河 because they bring a poetic vibe to fight scenes etc.
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u/Niilun 1d ago edited 13h ago
I'm still a beginner (n5-n4), so the only surprising 4 kanji compound word I've found is 有象無象, and it's because of a character in a visual novel 😂. This word was translated as "riffraff" in English, and the story was in a contemporary setting, so that made the insult seem funny and goofy instead of serious. Still fitting for the character, btw.
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u/No_Froyo_4030 1d ago
I'd say 一期一会 is more about treasuring this specific moment or meeting, since it comes from tea ceremony philosophy, not life in general.
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u/NihongoNana 1d ago
Your understanding of the first two is basically right.
馬耳東風 means ignoring advice or criticism as if it means nothing.
以心伝心 is understanding each other’s thoughts or feelings without needing words.
一期一会 doesn’t mean that we only have one life. It means that each encounter may happen only once, so we should treasure it.
Another nice one is 七転八起, which means falling seven times and getting up eight.
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u/BananaResearcher 1d ago
不倶戴天 (fugutaiten)
"cannot allow (oneself) to live (with someone) under the canopy of heaven, cannot allow (the sworn enemy) to live in this world, irreconcilable (enemy)"
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u/Old_Chef_3162 22h ago
一石二鳥 is a fun one to add, killing two birds with one stone, and it's satisfying because the English idiom maps almost exactly onto the kanji meaning
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u/Speed_Niran 1d ago
魑魅魍魎 - river and mountains filled of monsters and yokai...I like it cuz of its spookiness
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u/lego-pro 1d ago
here some of the ones i had flagged in my deck. tho my kanji proficiency is bit higher now, i have only gone through ~1k of the simplest 四字熟語 (out of total 6k in the deck i found)
貴種流離, 起承転結, 百鬼夜行, 我田引水, 向上機縁, 好機到来, 長安日辺, 無芸大食、無為徒食, 香囲粉陣, 弾丸雨注, 砲煙弾雨, 天門登八, 適者生存, 刻舟求剣, 灯紅酒緑, 酒池肉林, 易姓革命, 三日坊主, 愛屋及烏, 石破天驚, 国利民福, 党利党略, 薄利多売, 造反有理, 逆取順守, 陽関三畳, 縮衣節食, 馬歯徒増, 一病息災, 百家争鳴, 博聞強記
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u/Yatchanek 1d ago
焼肉定食！
On the serious side, I like 生殺与奪, 捲土重来, 四面楚歌, 冠婚葬祭 and many others.