“Full of ups and downs” This pharse basically means that something has been eventful, but in a negative way.
Examples: 彼女の波瀾万丈な生活にずっとつきあってきたよ。 “I have put up with her rollercoaster of a life for so long”
It can be used for almost anything, even for more formal usages, 波瀾万丈な経歴 means a “checkered career” etc.
One More: 話が時代を超えて展開する時、波瀾万丈の物語の幕が開けます。”This creates an exciting saga as the story jumps through different periods in history”
I thought this was a cool phrase, and I was surprised that I had never heard anyone use it before yesterday..
Basically points out a situation or a confrontation, or even just a discussion between two parties that did not go well, and ended with no conclusion. It also portrays that the meeting or discussion was a waste of time. This happens so much in Japan, that this phrase will be so useful for me.
物別れで終わる
end in disagreement, or without any conclusion.
話し合いは物別れになったとの電話連絡を受けた。
I got a phone call saying the talks had broken down.
その二国間の協議は物別れに終わった
Talks between the two countries got nowhere.
物別れのままである
remain stalemated
“Those ears of rice that bear the most grain (people in high positions) should be the ones that bow lowest”
This is a kotowaza.. Heard it used (sarcastically) today about an 偉そうな guy at work, who is supposedly a head of a division, but in fact often is found boasting to his subordinates about how many airline miles he earned on his 6 last business class work trips to the US, and how he often gets upgraded to first class because of how often he uses business class. In this sense, he should be the last person in the company to be saying anything to subordinates (who rarely get to go anywhere, let alone by business class) about how much of a “VIP of the sky” he is.
“do something in an angry state” (not sure about this… some Japanese person, please leave a comment?)
子どもが親に怒って庭で力任せにボールを蹴り続けていました
The kid was angry with his parents, and just kicked the ball for hours in the garden.
“token” “fake” (used for when someone does something, without really meaning it, or for ulterior motives)
形ばかりのお礼
slight token of gratitude, very small token of gratitude
形ばかりのもてなし
reception given for form’s sake
形ばかりの抵抗を見せる
put up only a token resistance
例(cchi)：昨晩遅かった事をカタチばかり文句言ってみたら 今日は早く帰るって言って朝出ていった。
“push one’s luck” “take a lot for granted” “take too much for granted”
虫がいい話だ
sounds too good
それは虫がいいね
That’s asking too much
自分の都合いいときだけあおうっていうのは虫が良すぎるでしょー？
It would be pushing my luck to ask that we only meet when it suits me right?
“look tough” “(be) a force to be reckoned with”
手ごわい［侮れない］ライバル
rival to be reckoned with
無視できないもの、侮れないもの
something to be reckoned with
Usage: An friend of mine in an old company, said this about a manager that was trying to make us work hard on the very last day of our assignment on a certain project.. I guess it meant, “She (the boss) is just trying to look tough..
“make fun of” “wind up” “take the piss out of” etc..
～をおちょくる
make fun of.., make a mock of..
～をおちょくる余裕がある
see the funny side of
「日本人をおちょくってんの？」
“Are you taking the piss out of Japanese people!?”