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Shoshikantetsu

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Re: Shoshikantetsu

#71

Post by dmix »

School-Cotton wrote: post #64
creakingstairs wrote: post #37

Sharing some Korean Yojijukugos (originating from China) 위록지마(謂鹿止馬) wii rok ji ma To point at a deer and call it a horse. Used for suck ups who says agrees to things that are clearly not right. 읍참마속(泣斬馬謖) ub cham ma sok To behead Ma Su (name) while crying. In the Romance of Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang had to behead his favourite general Ma Su as he wept because Ma Su ignored the given command resulting in losing the…

> To point at a deer and call it a horse. When indigenous Mexicans first met Spaniards, they described their horses (which are not native to the New World, so they had never seen before) as “a sort of giant deer”. It’s totally off-topic here but I always thought that was interesting.

There were actually horses in the new world, it's just that the natives hunted them all to extinction well before the Europeans arrived. Likewise with most other "mega fuana" in North America. There's also theories that climate changes played a role in addition to over exploitation.

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#73

Post by discordance »

dools wrote: post #52

I always say this to my kids when they don’t feel like doing some habit: just half arse it. Another phrase I use is: if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly. I run 12km every day, but some days I don’t get out until the afternoon, like today, and it was 30 degrees C and I could only run 8kms and when I got to the bottom of the hill at the 8km mark I couldn’t run up it and just walked the remaining 4km ho…

Seems logical wanting to avoid running on a hot day, whether you were unconsciously or consciously objecting to it.

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#74

Post by KTallguy »

My favorite yojijukugo is from Chinese, despite the fact that I barely speak it.

自強不息, or “Pushing forward to better yourself without ceasing,” I think? Maybe there’s a better way to put it?

Another poster mentioned 点滴穿石 which is my second favorite. It puts things in perspective quite well.

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#75

Post by ThinkingGuy »

rippercushions wrote: post #3

Many (but not all) Japanese four-character idioms ( yojijukugo ) are actually Chinese imports, and they're IMHO far more prevalent in that language. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengyu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yojijukugo

An excellent book on yojijukugo is "Kanji Idoims." from the "Power Japanese" series:

https://openlibrary.org/works/OL27733147W/Kanji_idioms?editi...

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#76

Post by jaqalopes » 

  Having a high say-do ratio has always been important to me
I've never encountered this idea, but as soon I read it I suddenly see it everywhere. My roommate who tells me he'll clean the kitchen then doesn't; my cousin who says he'll come to dinner then cancels. My best friend who says she'll start going to the gym and never does. My world is awash in people who say the most wonderful things and then don't do any of them; it feels like a distinctly modern phenomenon. I find it hard not to resent people for this, but I try, because not everything is equally important, and not everyone can be as determined as we might like. As this article illustrates, we are ultimately only in control of our own actions.

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#77

Post by _glass »

jaqalopes wrote: post #76

Having a high say-do ratio has always been important to me I've never encountered this idea, but as soon I read it I suddenly see it everywhere. My roommate who tells me he'll clean the kitchen then doesn't; my cousin who says he'll come to dinner then cancels. My best friend who says she'll start going to the gym and never does. My world is awash in people who say the most wonderful things and then don't do any of t…

I hated this when I was younger. But I've learned to do it, too. To please people. I don't really want, but I also don't want to have the discussion, of why I don't want. Now I try to not do this anymore and speak the truth, but I understand the meaning of why someone does this.

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#78

Post by nordsieck »

jaqalopes wrote: post #76

Having a high say-do ratio has always been important to me I've never encountered this idea, but as soon I read it I suddenly see it everywhere. My roommate who tells me he'll clean the kitchen then doesn't; my cousin who says he'll come to dinner then cancels. My best friend who says she'll start going to the gym and never does. My world is awash in people who say the most wonderful things and then don't do any of t…

> it feels like a distinctly modern phenomenon

Probably not a modern phenomenon. Except in so far as it's a lot easier to "hear" people say things much more easily now.

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#79

Post by bee_rider »

lelandfe wrote: post #67
creakingstairs wrote: post #37

Sharing some Korean Yojijukugos (originating from China) 위록지마(謂鹿止馬) wii rok ji ma To point at a deer and call it a horse. Used for suck ups who says agrees to things that are clearly not right. 읍참마속(泣斬馬謖) ub cham ma sok To behead Ma Su (name) while crying. In the Romance of Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang had to behead his favourite general Ma Su as he wept because Ma Su ignored the given command resulting in losing the…

> To point at a deer and call it a horse. Used for suck ups who says agrees to things that are clearly not right. Love this. A good English equivalent is “the emperor’s new clothes.”

References to the emperor’s new clothes seem to be focused on the moment when the lie everyone is going along with finally gets revealed, though. I think the English equivalent is more like “brown nosing.”

Re: Shoshikantetsu

#80

Post by bee_rider »

dools wrote: post #52

I always say this to my kids when they don’t feel like doing some habit: just half arse it. Another phrase I use is: if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly. I run 12km every day, but some days I don’t get out until the afternoon, like today, and it was 30 degrees C and I could only run 8kms and when I got to the bottom of the hill at the 8km mark I couldn’t run up it and just walked the remaining 4km ho…

Half-assing is a fun one to spin around.

“We really need to whole-ass this one.”

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