Watch Your Tongue!

💥 Wars, famine, fatal infections … we are witnessing obnoxiously grotesque happenings every day. Human suffering is everywhere. In the media, you tend to hear stale expressions such as

✳ (something) is beyond description, beyond words, indescribable, or
✳ words fail me to describe (something), there are no words to describe (something).

The Japanese equivalents would be
✴ #筆舌に尽くし難い 、名状し難い、言語に絶する、（あまりのことに）言葉が出ない、言葉にならない

The first one (筆舌に尽くし難い/ Shitsuzetsu ni tsukushi gatai) is most commonly used. Connoisseurs of the Japanese language can tell that this expression covers both written (#筆 = a calligraphy brush) and spoken (#舌 = #tongue ) languages.

As for figurative expressions containing a fude (筆) , a Japanese writing utensil, I would just skip them as I previously posted on this subject. (You can still find my post here:

In turn, let’s take a closer look at “tongue” 👅 It is often used as a synonym for #spoken #language in Japanese, just like “mother tongue” in English.

My favourite tongue-word is “ #舌人 “ (zetsujin = a tongue man when translated literally). I came across this interesting – though obsolete – expression when reading "The Dancing Girl" (Maihime, 舞姫)“, a semi-autobiographical novel written by Ogai Mori (森鷗外). It is an antiquated word for an interpreter.

It is well conceivable that Ogai himself served as an interpreter as a high-ranking military physician. The passage made me feel a certain kinship with this pioneer of modern #Japanese #literature as I am practicing the same trade a century later.

Here are some other idioms containing “tongue”:
😛舌禍 (Zekka) = a scandal resulting from incriminating remarks
😛毒舌 (Dokuzetsu) = (lit.) poisonous tongue ➡ bad language, badmouthing
😛饒舌 (Jozetsu) = overtalk, being talkative
😛舌足らず (shita tarazu) = lisp, (fig.) insufficient explanation
😛二枚舌 (Nimai Jita) = say one thing and mean another, being a liar
😛舌を巻く (Shita wo maku) = (lit.) roll up a tongue, being speechless (for a sense of admiration)
😛舌が回る (Shita ga mawaru) = speak fluently

I noticed a certain analogy between Japanese and English, e.g. 毒舌 for “evil or wicked tongue”, 二枚舌 (= “double tongues”) for “forked tongue”, or 舌が回るfor “having a glib tongue”.

But there is one exception: a slip of the tongue in EN becomes “slip of the mouth” (口が滑る) in JP. As a matter of fact, a slippery tongue ( #滑舌がよい ) is something desirable, namely good articulation!

Coming back to various “speechless” expressions used in broadcasting and print media, I would rather call it professional laziness.

🏳 Why should journalists willingly hoist the white flag? Like a canary in a coal mine, they should cry out loud using their pens and voices in a quest for global peace.

The pen is mightier than the sword. But the tongue is mightier than them both put together. (Marcus Garvey)
 
#Japanese #English #German
#idioms explained by #TranslationServiceArai