There are a lot of idioms using a part of the body. Today, I’m introducing you some idioms with “face”.
Face is "顔 (kao)" in Japanese.
① 顔が広い (kao ga hiroi)
"The face is wide."
This means...
"to know a lot of people having different background."
「彼は顔が広いから、いい人を紹介してくれると思うよ。」
(kare wa kao ga hiroi kara iihito o shookai shitekureru to omouyo)
"I think he will introduce you someone nice as he knows a lot of different people."
② 顔に書いてある (kao ni kaitearu)
“something is written on your face”
This means…
“Your face is expressing your feeling. I know what you are thinking in your heart.”
「パーティー行きたくないって顔に書いてあるよ。本当に行くの？」
(patti ikitakunai tte kaoni kaitearuyo. hontooni ikuno?)
“Your face is saying “I don’t want to go to the party!”. Are you really going to the party?”
③ 顔に泥をぬる （kao ni doro o nuru）
“to apply (paint) mud on someone’s face”
This means…
“to loose someone’s face”
「お客さんの前で飲みすぎて、上司の顔に泥をぬってしまった・・・」
(okyakusan no mae de nomisugite jooshi no kao ni doro o nutteshimatta…)
“I drank too much in front of our clients and I lost my boss’s face…”
When I was checking my dictionary for this blog, I noticed something. Both in Japanese and English, “face” means “honor” and ”mood”, too. Interesting!
Do you know about other language?
What kind of expression using "face" do you have in your language?
