Japanese language has a lot of unique idioms which may confuse the language learners for the first time.
Many of the idioms are often related to some body parts, like a face, legs, hands and stuff like that.
Here let’s have a look at an useful example which is frequently used in daily conversations.
“You have a wide face.” Is it an insult?
Imagine that you are a board member of a growing venture company.
One day, you take part in a kind of business social event with your friend.
You already know several people there because you’ve participated in it a few times before.
During the event, a lot of participants like doctors, lawyers, business elites and entrepreneurs try to come say hi to you, wanting to build up a business network of connections.
Then, your friend says “君は顔が広いね” admiringly.
If you put it into word-for-word English, it’s going to be “You have a wide face” or “Your face is wide.”
Taking it as an insult, it may be a good time for a fight?
No, it’s a compliment.
But please don’t give a fight with your kind friend.
What he means is that you have a wide circle of acquaintances.
He has got impressed by how many people you know and offered a compliment.
If I were to translate the idiom in a way which may make sense to Japanese learners, the range of people who can recognize you (your face) is wide.
Notes
In the situation that you offer a compliment to someone about his wide circle of networks, just note that you can’t say “君は顔が大きいね” or “君は顔がでかいね” that means “you have a big face.”
He should take the meaning as it is.
If you know how to use Japanese idioms, you’ll have more ways to express what you think!
I’ll give you more info about the usage on this website.
That’s all for today. Bye for now!
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