Proverbs & idioms

Japanese proverbs (ことわざ), four-character idioms (四字熟語), and idioms — from JMdict.

• 柳の下にいつも泥鰌はおらぬやなぎのしたにいつもどじょうはおらぬa fox is not taken twice in the same snare; there are no birds in last year's nest; there aren't always loaches under the willow tree
• 桃栗三年柿八年ももくりさんねんかきはちねんit often takes time for one's actions to bear fruit; planted peach and chestnut seeds take three years (to bear fruit), persimmons take eight
• 案ずるより産むが易しあんずるよりうむがやすしit is easier to do something than worry about it; fear overruns the danger; it is easier to bear (a child) than to worry about it
• 死人に口なししにんにくちなしdead men tell no tales; the dead cannot speak in their own defense
• 水の流れと人の行方みずのながれとひとのゆくえlife is unpredictable; the flow of water and where people are headed (are equally unpredictable)
• 水心みずごころkindness begets kindness; you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours