四字熟語

四時塾語「よじじゅくご」(Yojijukugo)

Notice anything interesting about this kanji compound? There are four characters, and that’s fitting- because this is the word for “four-character kanji compounds”.

四 = four

字 = character

塾 = mellow, ripen, mature, skill acquirement

語 = word, speech, language

In this case, the 四字熟語 for 四字熟語 mostly make sense- something along the lines of “four-character-mature-word”. However, in most 四字熟語, the meaning of individual kanji doesn’t necessarily give a helpful hint towards the true meaning of these compounds. Let’s look at some of my favorite interesting 四字熟語 below:

一石二鳥「いっせきにちょう」 = killing two birds with one stone

一 = one

石 = stone

二 = two

鳥 = bird

This one is about the easiest 四字熟語 I know of. These are all kanji that many Japanese learners can recognize within a short period of studying kanji. “One stone, two birds” translates pretty similarly to “killing two birds with one stone”, its English counterpart. Most 四字熟語 are made of Kanji without much relation to the compound’s meaning, so this simple 四字熟語 is definitely a nice one to learn first.

一期一会 「いちごいちえ」= a once in a lifetime opportunity

一 = one

期 = period, time, date

会 = meeting, association, gathering

Looking at this compound as a whole, it seems to mean something like “one time, one gathering”- which has some correlation to “a once in a lifetime opportunity”, but not enough that simply looking at the individual kanji would give this definition.  Part of the connotation of this compound is that this opportunity should be valued and cherished- which is quite similar to English.

十人十色「じゅうにんといろ」= to each their own

十 = ten

人 = person

色 = color

Here’s another 四字熟語 with very simple kanji, but this time their compound meaning is a bit harder to decipher. Knowing that this 四字熟語 means “to each their own” and has a feeling of “different people like different things”, you can look at how the kanji may relate to the meaning as a whole. “Ten people, ten colors”- each one of these “people” like a different “color”. In English, “ten people, ten colors” sounds a little weird- something that a wise old man may say in a kids’ TV show- but it does make sense why this compound means something similar to “to each their own”.

臨機応変「りんきおうへん」= playing by ear

臨 = to face, meet, or confront

機 = mechanism, machine, occasion

応 = answer, reply

変 = unusual, change

This 四字熟語 not only uses more difficult kanji but is also difficult to decipher even given the true meaning. “Confront occasion answer change” is the closest I can get to the real meaning via translation- and making a sentence out of these words makes it a little clearer why this 四字熟語 means what it does. “Confront occasions, and your answer changes” sounds a little like “playing it by ear”- you change your response to an occasion as you confront it. Knowing the meaning and story behind this 四字熟語 makes it decipherable, but without the English meaning it would be very difficult to understand what these kanji represent put together.

English has some complex idioms as well. “Knock on wood”, “A wolf in sheep’s clothing”, “hold your horses”- these are all phrases which make sense to us as a whole, but are a bit weird when you pick them apart. We know that “hold your horses” means to “slow down and consider the situation”, but looking at its diction singularly the connection exists but not very clearly. In most 四字熟語, this is the case as well- so it can be fun to learn new compounds and try to put the puzzle together of why it means what it means with the kanji you use to write it.

What is your favorite 四字熟語? Why do you think it’s written the way it is? Let me know in the comments below, I’d like to learn about more of them!