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Japanese Idioms
The Japanese language is filled with idioms of all sorts, from classical references from ancient Chinese to modern colloquialisms used by college students and young salaryman. Whether you are traveling to Japan for fun or on business, or are living there, you'll find idioms indispensible to understanding and using the daily language. Browse below to find the ones you want or simply explore the many possible ways to express yourself in Japanese.
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退屈しのぎ
[たいくつしのぎ, taikutsu-shinogi] a way to stave off boredom; a kill-time
太鼓持ち
[たいこもち, taiko-mochi] flatterer; brown-noser
大根
[だいこん, daikon] lousy actor
大根足
[だいこんあし, daikonashi] piano legs; thick, definitionless legs (lit.: radish legs)
大根役者
[だいこんやくしゃ, daikon yakusha] lousy actor
大したもの
[たいしたもの, taishita mono] important, significant, meaningful
台無しにする
[だいなしにする, dainashi ni suru] spoil; ruin; make a mess of; botch; mess
タイムいっぱい
[たいむいっぱい, taimu ippai] at the end of [time]
絶え間なく
[たえまなく, taema naku] without pause
他界する
[たかいする, takai suru] die
高飛び
[たかとび, takatobi] skipping town
(lit.: fly high)
高飛びする
[たかとびする, takatobi suru] skip town (lit.: fly high)
高みの見物（をする）
[たかみのみもの（をする）, takami no mimono] stand by idly; watch as an idle spectator
高を括る
[たかをくくる, taka o kukuru] underrate; not take seriously
竹の子族
[たけのこぞく, takenoko-zoku] teenage punks (n.b.: from the 1970s; not much used anymore)
蛇足
[だそく, dasoku] excess; superfluous
只今
[ただいま, tadaima] I’m back
ただ事じゃない
[ただごとじゃない, tada goto ja nai] be serious
駄々っ子
[だだっこ, dadakko] spoiled brat
駄々をこねる
[だだをこねる, dada o koneru] fret; be peevish
たちが悪い
[たちがわるい, tachi ga warui] wicked; vicious; ill-natured
脱サラ
[だつさら, datsu-sara] quitting a job as a salaryman and launching an independent business
たった今
[たったいま, tatta ima] just now, a moment ago, this very minute
脱兎のごとく
[だっとのごとく, datto no gotoku] with lightning speed, as fast as one can
立つより返事
[たつよりへんじ, tatsu yori henji] be ready to answer before you stand up
立て板に水
[たていたにみず, tateita ni mizu] great fluency, able to speak and act quickly
棚上げ（する）
[たなあげ（する）, tanaage] shelve; set aside for the time being
狸寝入り
[たぬきねいり, tanuki neiri] pretend to sleep; feign sleep
たまえ
[たまえ, tamae] a suffix used with the stem form of verbs to create a command, usually used by superiors to inferiors
玉に傷
たまにきず, tama ni kizu] a fly in the ointment; a flaw in an otherwise perfect thing or person
鱈腹
[たらふく, tarafuku] be stuffed; have eaten one's fill; be fed up
だんだん
[だんだん, dan dan] slowly, step by step