八面六臂

はちめんろっぴ
hachimen roppi

I'm gonna skip the whole "OMG、 you've been gone forever stuff" and just... post a yo-ji. Enjoy.

We've discussed the various significances of the number 8 here before. But when it shows up in 四字熟語 like 四通八達 and 八方美人, you can usually assume it's being invoked to mean a multitude, or quantity that covers all possibilities. All directions.

So 八面 is eight faces, or all sides. But what about the other half of today's yo-ji? Six elbows, written with a rare kanji (elbow is most often written in kana, ひじ, and even when it's not, it's mostly written using this kanji:　肘) is a reference to six-armed Buddha statues, which, more often than not, wield a variety of instruments.

So what can you do with eight faces and six arms? Frickin' ANYTHING.

Definition:
一人で数人分の働きをすること。色々な分野で活躍すること。
Translation:
1. Good at everything.
2. Skilled in all fields.
3. Handling the workload of many by one's self.
4. Versatile.

I wouldn't reccommend saying it about yourself, unless you want to be accused of some 自画自賛, but if someone says it about you, try to work that lethal combo of Nihongo-skills and Japanese-modesty, like today's example sentence.

例文：
Aさん：お姉さん、日本語も上手だし、料理もうまいらしい、スポーツもカラオケもできるという話を聞きましたが、本当に八面六臂の活躍ぶりはすごいですよね。
Bさん：それほどでもないです。八面六臂というより、まさに器用貧乏って感じです。