Akubi wo Kamikorosu (あくびを噛み殺す - Suppressing a Yawn)

Jul 30, 2019 17:53
Akubi wo Kamikorosu

It is not good to yawn when someone is talking about important things.

If you want to yawn in such a case, you will close your mouth and try hard not to yawn.

This act is expressed as 'akubi wo kamikorosu' (あくびを噛み殺す) in Japanese.

'Akubi' (あくび) means "yawn," 'kami' (噛み) means "to bite," and 'korosu' (殺す) means "to kill," so the literal meaning of 'akubi wo kamikorosu' is "to bite and kill a yawn."

I think that this expression is easy to convey a feeling that you do not want to yawn.
あくびを噛み殺す

大事な話しているとき、「あくび」をするのは態度が良くありません。

そのようなときにあくびをしたくなったら、口を閉じて必死に我慢すると思います。

この行為を、「あくびを噛み殺す」と言うことがあります。

「あくび」は "yawn"、「噛み」は "to bite"、「殺す」は "to kill" を意味するので、「あくびを噛み殺す」の文字どおりの意味は "to bite and kill a yawn" となります。

あくびを出したくない気持ちが伝わる、わかりやすい比喩表現だと思います。
No. 1 Kody104's correction
  • If you want to yawn in such a case, you will close your mouth and try hard not to yawn.
  • If you want to yawn in such a case, you will should close your mouth and try hard not to yawn.
     Saying 'will' like this sounds like you are giving them a command.
Toru
Thank you for the correction! :)
BACK