棚から牡丹餅

Meaning: An unexpected stroke of good luck.

Language: Japanese

Literally: A sweet rice cake from the shelf

Category: Food & Drink

Origin: A botamochi cake tumbling from a high shelf straight into your mouth pictures fortune arriving with no effort.

More idioms — Food & Drink

• 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.
• Nu är det kokta fläsket stekt — Now we're really in trouble.

More Japanese idioms

• 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.
• 顔から火が出る — To burn with embarrassment.
• 猫の手も借りたい — I'm so busy I'll take help from anyone.

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