Home › Idioms

朝飯前

Meaning: A task so easy it can be done before eating.

Language: Japanese

Literally: Before breakfast

Category: Food & Drink

Origin: Anything achievable on an empty morning stomach must be trivially simple — the Japanese 'piece of cake'.

More idioms — Food & Drink

  • 棚から牡丹餅 — An unexpected stroke of good luck.
  • 그림의 떡 — Something desirable but completely out of reach.
  • 김칫국부터 마신다 — To count your chickens before they hatch.
  • 우물에 가 숭늉 찾는다 — To demand results with absurd impatience.
  • Iets voor zoete koek aannemen — To swallow a story uncritically.
  • Met de gebakken peren zitten — To be stuck with the unpleasant aftermath.

More Japanese idioms

  • 二階から目薬 — A roundabout effort that has no real effect.
  • 喉から手が出る — To want something so badly you can hardly bear it.
  • 七転び八起き — To keep getting up no matter how often you fall.
  • 月とすっぽん — Two things alike at a glance but worlds apart.
  • 石橋を叩いて渡る — To be extremely, even excessively, cautious.
  • 釘を刺す — To remind someone firmly so they can't back out.

← Back to Idioms

Loading the full interactive collection…