But you'll be happy to know that studying pays off. Today I've got two new conversation friendly yoji for you. No insane levels of obscurity today. While we usually present yoji together if they have some meaning or characters in common, today I'm giving you two that I learned simultaneously.
The first is something I am actively involved with, and the second... well, let's take a look.
自画自賛
じが じさん
jiga jisan
Definition:
自分のことをほめること。自慢すること。
Translations:
1. Self-satisfaction.
2. Singing one's own praises/ tooting one's own horn.
3. Self admiration.
一心同体いっしん どうたい
isshin doutai
Definition:
二人以上の人間の心が一致し、同じ体、すなわち一人の人間であるような強い結びつきをすること。
Translations:
1. Two hearts beating as one.
2. Working/Being together as though inhabiting one body
3. United, body and soul.
The kanji for 一心同体 are basic enough, (one heart, same body) but it marks a milestone for me. Remember how excited I got the first time I was able to guess the meaning of a yoji just by looking at it?
This time, when I heard this one for the first time, I was able to identify it as a yoji (yoji that begin with 一心 or 一身 are common), understand the meaning, and correctly guess all the kanji. All by myself! And that was how I learned 自画自賛... by bragging about it too much.
You can use 一心同体, as you might expect, in relation to love, but it's also applied in other senses as well. You can see how the idea of 一心同体 might resound powerfully in the Japanese consciousness. Try using it in some of the same contexts that you would use 一致団結.自画自賛, on the other hand, goes well with 調子乗っている.
例文：去年、わが野球部は全員一心同体となってがんばったため、甲子園で優勝しました。しかし、今年は自画自賛ばかりしているので、彼らしか今年も勝つと":思っていないみたいです。
Last year our baseball team, working together as one, did their best and won Koshien. But this year, they're spending all their time singing their own praises; it looks like they're the only ones who think they're gonna repeat.
