弘法にも筆の誤り

Japanese

Kanji in this term
弘	法	筆	誤
こう Jinmeiyō	ほう > ぼう Grade: 4	ふで Grade: 3	あやま Grade: 6
kan’on	goon	kun’yomi

Etymology

Phrase consisting of 弘法 (Kōbō), the first part of the posthumous name of Kūkai, an important Buddhist monk and one of three famous Heian period calligraphers + に (ni, “in”, locative particle) も (mo, “even”, inclusive particle) + 筆 (fude, “writing brush; writing with a brush”) + の (no, genitive or possessive particle) + 誤り (ayamari, “mistake”, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 誤る ayamaru, “to make a mistake”). Literally “even Kōbō Daishi makes mistakes in his brush writing (i.e. calligraphy)”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ko̞ːbo̞ː ɲ̟i mo̞ ɸɯ̟ᵝde̞ no̞ a̠ja̠ma̠ɾʲi]

Proverb

弘(こう)法(ぼう)にも筆(ふで)の誤(あやま)り • (Kōbō ni mo fude no ayamari) 

1. even Homer nods: even the experts make mistakes

See also

• 猿(さる)も木(き)から落(お)ちる (saru mo ki kara ochiru, “even monkeys fall from trees: even the experts make mistakes”)