河童の川流れ
Japanese edit
Kanji in this term | |||
---|---|---|---|
河 | 童 | 川 | 流 |
かわ > か Grade: 5 |
わっぱ > っぱ Grade: 3 |
かわ Grade: 1 |
なが Grade: 3 |
irregular | kun’yomi |
Etymology edit
Phrase consisting of 河童 (kappa, “water imp”, in traditional Japanese folklore) + の (no, possessive particle) + 川 (kawa, “river”) + 流れ (nagare, “flowing; flushing away”, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of the verb 流れる (nagareru, “to flow; to be flushed away”)).[1][2][3][4] Literally "Even the kappa is flushed away by the river". Metaphor for the way that anyone, even experts (as kappa are expert swimmers), might make mistakes.
First cited to a text from 1829.[1]
Pronunciation edit
Proverb edit
河童の川流れ • (kappa no kawa nagare)
- [from 1829] even Homer nods: even the experts make mistakes
References edit
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “河童の川流れ”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
- ^ “河童の川流れ”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen][2] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
- ^ Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN