IdiomBody & Senses
Japanese
Japanese腹が黒い (hara ga kuroi)
Meaning: Scheming and malicious behind a friendly face.
Literally: The belly is black
Example: “あの政治家は笑顔だが、腹が黒い。” — That politician smiles a lot, but he's a snake in the grass.
English equivalent: A snake in the grass
Equivalents in other languages
Malay: Harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi Literally: You trusted the fence, but the fence ate the rice
Urdu: آستین کا سانپ (aasteen ka saanp) Literally: A snake in the sleeve
English: a snake in the grass
Origin: In Japanese the hara (belly) is the seat of one's real intentions, as in hara o waru (to split open the belly), to speak frankly. A black belly hides scheming under a friendly surface. The phrase has no particular story behind it.
More Japanese idioms
- お茶を濁す (ocha o nigosu) To dodge a question with a vague, evasive answer.
- 朝飯前 (Asameshi mae) A task so easy it can be done before eating.
- 二階から目薬 (Nikai kara megusuri) A roundabout effort that has no real effect.
- 喉から手が出る (Nodo kara te ga deru) To want something so badly you can hardly bear it.
- 棚から牡丹餅 (Tana kara botamochi) An unexpected stroke of good luck.
- 月とすっぽん (Tsuki to suppon) Two things alike at a glance but worlds apart.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
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- 隣の客はよく柿食う客だ (Tonari no kyaku wa yoku kaki kuu kyaku da) A tricky spiral on ka/ki/ku that accelerates as you try to keep the syllables distinct.
- なまむぎ なまごめ なまたまご (Nama mugi, nama gome, nama tamago) A nimble warm-up for the Japanese 'na / ma / ge' syllables.
- 東京特許許可局 (Tōkyō tokkyo kyokakyoku) A machine-gun of 'kyo' / 'kyoku' sounds.
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