Monday, November 12, 2007

Nine Days' Wonder(=人も噂も75日?)

2007年11月12日(月曜)
Monday, November, twelfth, two thousand and seven

日本語と英語は全く違う言語ですけど、ときどき似たような言い回しを見つけるときがあります。それは、そうです。言語は違えど、同じ人間なんですから、根底にある感覚はやはり似ているのでしょうね。
先日、"nine days' wonder"という英語の表現を目にしました。私の推測ですが、これは日本語の『人の噂も75日』に近い表現だと思います。日本では、『人の噂(話題)なんて、せいぜい75日もあれば消えてしまうもんさ』というような意味ですが、英語では『大騒ぎするのも、せいぜい9日くらいなもんさ』みたいな意味なのでしょうか?9日と75日・・・大きな差があるのは、なぜなのでしょうか?日本人のほうが、つまらないことで大騒ぎする傾向が強いからかなぁ・・・う~ん・・・そうかも。(笑)

Even though Japanese language is completely different from English, sometimes I find similar expressions between them actually. That's understandable because those people use different languages but they are the same human being, so the underlying senses would be similar, I guess.
The other day I saw an English term "nine days' wonder". The way I see it, it means similar to this Japanese one "人の噂も75日(hito no uwasa mo nana juu go nichi.)" It means rumor and popular topics will disappear within 75 days at longest in Japanese, but on the other hand, does the English one mean it will continue for 9 days at longest to make a fuss about small things? I don't know why there is a big difference, 9days and 75 days.... I suppose that Japanese people strongly tend to make a big deal about minor things. Umm... Could be. :D

2 comments:

Unfortunate Futurist said...

hmm, i've never heard that saying in english before. where is it from? maybe it's only 9 days because english speakers gossip too much so gossip dies earlier. it has a shorter life-span. haha!

plow7010 said...

hey ダニエル,
Where is it from? Why don't you google with the keyword "nine days wonder"? :)
Here is an informative web page.
Aha! yeah their gossip tend to be exaggerated as you say. :D