607 - Belly Idioms
The other day Rei and I were sitting outside enjoying a glass of wine when the topic of idioms came up.
That somehow led to us talking about the various idioms in Japanese that use the word 腹 (はら // belly; stomach).
Before I introduce those, however, let's talk about...
The difference between お腹 and 腹.
Both of these words use the same kanji: 腹.And both of these words, お腹 (おなか) and 腹 (はら) mean "stomach" or refer to the general area of the body where the stomach is located.
The only difference is that お腹 (おなか) has a somewhat more polite ring to it, while 腹 (はら) is a bit rough around the edges.
Interestingly, I was googling images of these words (a good practice for us language learners), and I noticed that googling お腹 brings up fewer pictures of male stomachs than googling 腹. There are male and female pictures for both, but it's worth noting that men might be more likely to refer to their stomach area as 腹 than women.
While we're at it, we can mention that 胃 (い) refers to the organ "the stomach" that is inside of your body.
This should all be review, by the way. We saw all three of these words in this lesson.
Specifically, we had these example sentences, which showed that all three of these words can refer to the stomach inside of your body (but remember that 胃 can't mean anything else):
お腹の調子が悪い。
おなか の ちょうし が わるい。
Something's wrong with my stomach.
Literally: “stomach + の + tune + が + bad.”
胃の調子が悪い。
い の ちょうし が わるい。
Something's wrong with my stomach.
Literally: “stomach + の + tune + が + bad.”
腹の調子が悪い。
はら の ちょうし わるい。
Something's wrong with my stomach.
Literally: “stomach + の + tune + が + bad.”
Anyway, we're looking at idioms using the word 腹 (はら) in this lesson.
Here's a list of the idioms we'll cover:
腹をくくる（はらをくくる // to prepare oneself for the worst; to strengthen one's resolve）
腹を決める（はらをきめる // to make up one's mind; to resolve; to decide）
腹黒い（はらぐろい // malicious; black-hearted; wicked）
太っ腹（ふとっぱら // generous; big-hearted; giving）
腹が立つ（はらがたつ // to get angry）
自腹を切る（じばらをきる // to pay for with your own money）
Let's look at sentences while we explain them...
(In the following sentences, note that I've used both the words "stomach" and "belly" when referring to 腹. Neither of these are perfect translations, I think. The word "belly" does have the less-nice-sounding vibe of 腹, but the problem with that is that a "belly" is usually fat or round, but 腹 can also refer to, for example, a fit, muscular stomach. I'm often tempted to translate 腹 as "gut," but I never do so because it's not technically referring to the gut. Hmm...)
腹をくくる（はらをくくる // to prepare oneself for the worst; to strengthen one's resolve）
The verb くくる means something like "tie up," "bind," or "bundle up."
It seems appropriate that "tying up your stomach" is an appropriate action when you are preparing yourself to face some frightening, terrible thing.
Perhaps "clench your stomach" makes a bit more sense as a quasi-literal translation.
Here it is in a sentence:
腹をくくって結果を聞きに行った。
はら を くくって けっか を きき に いった。
Bracing myself for the worst, I went to hear the results.
Literally: “prepare oneself for the worst / strengthen one’s resolve (and) (=belly + を + tie up / bind / bundle up [and]) + result + を + went to hear (=hearing + に + went).”
腹を決める（はらをきめる // to make up one's mind; to resolve; to decide）
When you decide something with resolve, you might feel that decision settling in your stomach.
Perhaps that's why "to decide your stomach" means something like "to make up your mind" or "to resolve (to do)."
An example:
彼女にプロポーズすることに腹を決めた。
かのじょ に プロポーズ する こと に はら を きめた。
I made up my mind to propose to her.
Literally: “girlfriend / she + に + proposal + do + thing + に + resolved / made up my mind / decided (=belly + を + decided).”
腹黒い（はらぐろい // malicious; black-hearted; wicked）
In English we say that people are "black-hearted." In Japanese they say people are "black-stomached" or "black-bellied."
In my experience of coming across this word, the meaning of "malicious" seems more appropriate than "black-hearted," but I suppose either translation could work.
We can also say 腹が黒い (はらがくろい), but chances are you'll hear it being used as 腹黒い (はらぐろい) (← Note the ぐ instead of く).
あいつは腹黒いから気を付けろよ。
あいつ は はらぐろい から きをつけろ よ。
Be careful around him. He’s a malicious person.
Literally: “he / she + は + malicious / black-hearted (=black-bellied) + から (=because) + be careful (=[command]) + よ.”
太っ腹（ふとっぱら // generous; big-hearted; giving）
In the past, I was always a bit hesitant to use this word, as some dictionaries said that it could also mean "fat" or "(literally) big-bellied." Calling someone "fat" is something I try to avoid whenever possible!
But in all my years of hearing Japanese, I've only ever heard this word being used with the meaning of "generous," and Rei says that that's the only meaning she hears it being used with, too. So maybe I should try this word out sometime...
This can also be phrased as 腹が太い (はらがふとい), but you'll most likely come across 太っ腹 (ふとっぱら).
A:
ここは奢るよ。
ここ は おごる よ。
This one’s on me. // I’ll treat you.
Literally: “here + は + treat (you) + よ.”
B:
よっ！太っ腹！
よっ！ ふとっぱら！
Whoo! How generous of you!
Literally: “whoo! + generous / big-hearted (=fat-bellied)!”
腹が立つ（はらがたつ // to get angry）
I'm so angry, my stomach is standing!
Uh... I guess that makes sense... sort of...
Of all of the idioms that we have in this lesson, I think this is the one that I hear the most.
An example:
あの時はほんとに腹立ったなあ。
あの とき は ほんとに はら たった なあ。
I got so angry then.
Literally: “that + time + は + truly / really + got angry (=belly [が] stood) + なあ.”
If you look in a dictionary, it will say that 腹立つ without a が between 腹 and 立つ is pronounced はらだつ.
So why does our sentence say はらたった (i.e. はらたつ and not はらだつ)?
That's because we're not saying はらだつ. We are saying 腹が立つ (はらがたつ), but we are leaving out the が, which is extremely common to do in casual spoken Japanese.
I've never actually heard someone say はらだつ, but I have heard people say はらたつ many times.
自腹を切る（じばらをきる // to pay for with your own money）
This might be my favorite idiom in this lesson.
"Cutting open your own stomach" is such a vivid image for "paying with your own money."
This phrase is usually used when you pay for something with your own money even though you shouldn't have to or wouldn't need to under most circumstances.
自腹を切って講習会に参加した。
じばら を きって こうしゅうかい に さんか した。
I paid for the class [training] with my own money.
Literally: “pay with my own money (and) (=self-belly + を + cut [and]) + course / class + に + participation + did.”
Sometimes people will leave out を切る and just say 自腹, which still has the same meaning:
自腹で仕事の制服を買わされた。
じばら で しごと の せいふく を かわされた。
I was forced to pay for my work uniform with my own money.
Literally: “paying with my own money (=self-belly) + で + work / job + の + uniform + を + was made to buy.”
Learning idioms is kind of fun, I guess. But trying to use them is more fun, I think.
Yeah, you might make some embarrassing mistakes, but that's a great way to remember things. Shame-sensei is a great teacher.
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