A rough time
Idioms, Stage 1chunk 13 of 21Luck, trouble & outcomes
Going through something bad, from one nasty experience to one blow after another.
- hidoi me ni auhave an awful timeliterally “meet a terrible eye (me = an experience)”
- itai me ni auget hurt; get burned (pay for a mistake)literally “meet a painful eye (me = an experience)”
- share ni naranaiit's no joke, it's seriously badliterally “it doesn't become a joke”
- ma ga waruibad timing, an awkward momentliterally “the interval is bad”
- fundari kettarione bad thing after anotherliterally “stepping on (you) and kicking (you)”
Mix-ups hidoi me ni au (an awful time) vs itai me ni au (paying for a mistake) share me ni au; ma ga warui (bad timing) sounds like ma ga sashita (a sudden lapse) in Getting carried away.
hidoi me ni au
polite hidoi me ni aimasu
“meet a terrible eye (me = an experience)”
have an awful time
How people tell any bad-experience story, from a ruined trip to being cheated. It is almost always in the past: hidoi me ni atta. Here me means 'experience', not 'eye'.
Stronger variant: sanzan na me ni atta; making someone suffer is hidoi me ni awaseru.
kinou hidoi me ni atta yo
I had an awful time yesterday.
昨日ひどい目に遭ったよ
kinou hidoi me ni aimashita yo
I had an awful time yesterday.
昨日ひどい目に遭いましたよ
Written ひどい目に遭う · ひどいめにあうHeard 338× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesLearn alongside itai me ni auMain list hidoi (Stage 2)
itai me ni au
polite itai me ni aimasu
“meet a painful eye (me = an experience)”
get hurt; get burned (pay for a mistake)
In English: learn the hard way
Three uses: a threat of harm (itai me ni aitakunakattara damatte ro, if you don't want to get hurt, shut up), a warning about consequences (amaku miteru to itai me ni au yo) and a look back (mukashi itai me ni atta). hidoi me is about having a bad time; itai me is about getting hurt or paying for a mistake.
Same meaning: itai me o miru; the threat 'you'll pay for this' is itai me ni awaseru zo.
amaku miteru to itai me ni au yo
Take it lightly and you'll get burned.
甘く見てると痛い目に遭うよ
amaku miteru to itai me ni aimasu yo
If you underestimate it, you'll get burned.
甘く見てると痛い目に遭いますよ
Written 痛い目に遭う · いたいめにあうHeard 110× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesLearn alongside hidoi me ni auMain list itai (Stage 2)
share ni naranai
polite share ni narimasen
“it doesn't become a joke”
it's no joke, it's seriously bad
In English: no laughing matter
A reaction to something that is past being funny, like dangerous heat, a huge bill or a prank gone wrong: kore wa share ni naranai. Casual speech shortens it to share ni nannai.
Casual: share ni nannai; plain alternative: yabai.
kono atsusa, share ni nannai yo
This heat is no joke.
この暑さ、シャレになんないよ
kono atsusa wa share ni narimasen ne
This heat is seriously no joke.
この暑さはシャレになりませんね
Written 洒落にならない · しゃれにならないHeard 7× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesMain list naru (Stage 1), -nai (Stage 1)
ma ga warui
polite ma ga warui desu
“the interval is bad”
bad timing, an awkward moment
Said when something happens at just the wrong moment, like walking in on an argument: ma ga warui naa. It also describes someone with a knack for bad timing. Before a noun it's ma no warui, and ma no warui koto ni means 'as (bad) luck would have it'. It isn't un ga warui, which means bad luck in general.
Plain alternative: taimingu ga warui.
ma no warui koto ni, choudo kachou ga kita n da yo
As luck would have it, the boss showed up right then.
間の悪いことに、ちょうど課長が来たんだよ
ma no warui koto ni, choudo kachou ga kita n desu yo
As luck would have it, the boss showed up just then.
間の悪いことに、ちょうど課長が来たんですよ
Written 間が悪い · まがわるいHeard 31× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesLearn alongside ma ga sashita (Stage 3)Main list warui (Stage 1), kuru (Stage 1), n da (Stage 1)
fundari kettari
polite fundari kettari desu
“stepping on (you) and kicking (you)”
one bad thing after another
In English: when it rains, it pours
The bad-day summary when one blow lands on top of another: kyou wa fundari kettari da. Said about your own luck or, very often, in sympathy after a friend lists their mishaps (sore wa fundari kettari datta ne, what a run of bad luck).
Plain alternative: tsuitenai (I'm out of luck).
kyou wa hontou ni fundari kettari da yo.
Today's been one thing after another.
今日は本当に踏んだり蹴ったりだよ。
kyou wa hontou ni fundari kettari deshita.
Today was one thing after another.
今日は本当に踏んだり蹴ったりでした。
Written 踏んだり蹴ったり · ふんだりけったりHeard 3× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesMain list kyou (Stage 1), honto ni (Stage 1)