油を売る
Meaning: To slack off or dawdle when you should be working.
Language: Japanese
Literally: To sell oil
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Edo-period hair-oil peddlers poured each ladle painfully slowly, chatting all the while — to passers-by they looked like professional idlers.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Chutar o balde — To stop caring and let everything go — unlike the English, nobody dies.
- Etekleri zil çalıyor — To be visibly bursting with joy.
- Å være ute og sykle — To be completely mistaken or to have no idea what you're talking about.
- At tisse i bukserne for at holde varmen — A quick fix that makes the problem worse soon after.
- Heittää lusikka nurkkaan — To die.
- Olla pipo kireällä — To be uptight, grumpy or in a foul mood.
More Japanese idioms
- 高嶺の花 — Someone or something beautiful but utterly out of reach.
- 猫舌 — Unable to handle hot food or drinks.
- 猫の額 — A very small space, especially of land.
- 腹が黒い — Scheming and malicious behind a friendly face.
- お茶を濁す — To dodge a question with a vague, evasive answer.
- 朝飯前 — A task so easy it can be done before eating.
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