面白い日本語＃１ (Interesting Japanese#1)

今日は面白い日本語の表現シリーズを始めたいです。このシリーズで日常生活の色々なメディアから見つけた面白い表現や単語について書きます。

Today,　I would like to kick off the ‘Interesting Japanese’ series in which I will be writing about interesting expressions, words and such that I come across in my daily life through various Japanese materials.

今日の表現はこれです：

Today’s expression is as follows:

ちなみにこの表現は英語で訳すと「to hit a nerve」と言います。

As a side note, this expression translates to ‘to hit a nerve’ in English.

このアニメで最初の聞いた時、彼の耳が文字通りに痛いと思いましたが、もう一度聞いたら意味がわかりました。

When I first heard this expression while watching the anime, I thought that his ears were literally hurting but after listening to it again, I quickly understood what it meant.

耳が痛いというの表現は他人の言葉が自分の弱点をついていて、聞きづらいのことですね！

This expression conveys the idea of saying something that irks someone, especially if that person can closely relate to it.

例えば、Aさんは勉強が苦手ですが、本当に勤勉な人です。ある日受験して失敗してしまいました。そしてBさんに馬鹿と言われました。Aさんは一生懸命に頑張ったからこそ、その嫌味を聞いてすぐに落ち込みました。この場合には例の表現を使えると思います。

For instance, while Mr. A is really bad at studying, but he is a very diligent person. One day, he sat for an exam and failed. Following that, Mr.B tactlessly insulted him by calling him stupid. Mr. A felt so depressed to hear that, precisely because he had worked so hard for the exam. In this case, what Mr. B said to Mr. A must have hit or touched a nerve.

もちろんそんな事情が本当にあったらそういう意地悪がダメですね。意地悪というより励ますことのほうがいいと思います！

Naturally of course, if such a situation were to actually occur, cheering and consoling would be the appropriate thing to do here instead!