「日刊四字」へようこそ!

Now Featuring 1級 Grammar, Everyday Japanese That You Won't Find in the Book, and Language and Cultural Trivia!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

笑止千万

しょうし せんばん
shoushi senban

As promised, today's yoji came up yesterday during my research of 「ちゃんちゃらおかしい.」

Definition:
この上もなくばかばかしくて吹き出したくなる様子。
Translation:
1. Exceedingly absurd.
2. Nothing could be more ridiculous.

Important to note the inclusion of 吹き出す, which in this instance means "to burst into laughter," which takes the connotation away from the realm of あほ臭い, and into the realm of knee-slapping funny.

I like to think of this one in relation to 破顔一笑, in that they both talk about uncontrollable displays of amusement or pleasure.

例文:外国人が日本について思っている一部分のイメージは笑止千万です。その人たちに「ジャパンカルチャラブ」というビデオシーリーズは役に立つと思います。
Some of the ideas that foreigners have about Japan can be laughable. In those case, the "Japan Culture Lab" series of videos can be a real help.

No comments: