Japanese Body Language – Things you can say with your face

May 24, 2008 - 2:06 am by Bill Belew in Culture  

Here’s a long list of things the Japanese can say with their faces.
However, these are expressions that [...]

Japanese Body Language – 顔を出す

May 23, 2008 - 2:05 am by Bill Belew in Culture  

We stick our necks out in the west. The Japanese don’t mess around. They stick their whole face out.
顔を出す [かおをだす, kao o dasu] come; arrive; appear; put in an appearance.
Whenever there is a party or an event, friends, if you have them, will want to know if you are planning to attend.
They will ask [...]

Japanese Body Language – 顔がつぶれる

May 22, 2008 - 2:04 am by Bill Belew in Culture  

It hurts whether it’s actual or idiomatic, to get your faced smashed.
顔がつぶれる [かおがつぶれる, kao ga tsubureru] lose status; have lost status
As much as the Japanese worry about this, you would think that they, politicians and dirty businessmen would be more particular about their many misdeeds.
Still, when they are found out, inevitably you will hear [...]

Japanese Body Language – 足がない

May 21, 2008 - 2:03 am by Bill Belew in Culture  

[あしがない, ashi ga nai] No legs.
I woke up thinking about this one last night. Somehow I forgot it.
I am sure there are others.
My wife went back to work a couple of weeks ago and we have only one car.
This is my situation.
This expression is often used to mean, I don’t have a car or I [...]

Japanese Body Language – 顔が広い

- 2:02 am by Bill Belew in Culture  

Only in Japan would someone be happy to have a fat, okay, broad face.
顔が広い[かおがひろい, kao ga hiroi] know a lot of people; be widely known; have a large circle of acquaintances
This is one expression that I heard more often than the others.
A guy/girl with a wide face is not a fatso, rather, it’s a [...]