Gains and windfalls
Idioms, Stage 1chunk 6 of 21Luck, trouble & outcomes
Good things coming your way, from simply getting hold of something to luck that falls in your lap.
- te ni ireruget hold of, obtainliterally “put (it) into one's hand”
- te ni hairube obtainable, come into one's handsliterally “enter one's hand”
- isseki nichoutwo benefits from one actionliterally “one stone, two birds”
- negatte mo naibetter than you could have hoped for, most welcomeliterally “not (to be had) even by wishing”
- tanabotaan unexpected windfallliterally “shelf rice-cake (a rice cake falling off the shelf)”
Mix-ups te ni ireru (you get it) vs te ni hairu (it comes to you) is a transitive/intransitive pair; tanabota is unearned luck, negatte mo nai is a chance better than you'd hoped for.
te ni ireru
polite te ni iremasu
“put (it) into one's hand”
get hold of, obtain
In English: get one's hands on
Said when you finally get something hard to come by, like tickets, a rare item or information. You mostly hear the past, te ni ireta. You are the one doing the getting; with te ni hairu, the thing itself is the subject.
Everyday alternatives: getto suru (casual); toreta (managed to get, for tickets and seats).
yatto chiketto te ni ireta yo
I finally got my hands on tickets.
やっとチケット手に入れたよ
yatto chiketto o te ni iremashita
I finally got hold of the tickets.
やっとチケットを手に入れました
Written 手に入れる · てにいれるHeard 2538× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesLearn alongside te ni hairuMain list ireru (Stage 4)
te ni hairu
polite te ni hairimasu
“enter one's hand”
be obtainable, come into one's hands
The partner of te ni ireru, with the thing as the subject. You hear it most in the negative, nakanaka te ni hairanai (hard to get hold of), in questions like doko de te ni hairu no? (where can you get it?), and in the cheer yatto te ni haitta! (got it at last!).
Formal word: nyuushu (obtaining), as in nyuushu konnan (hard to get).
kore, nakanaka te ni hairanai n da yo
This is really hard to get hold of.
これ、なかなか手に入らないんだよ
kore, nakanaka te ni hairanai n desu yo
This is really hard to get hold of.
これ、なかなか手に入らないんですよ
Written 手に入る · てにはいるHeard 572× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesLearn alongside te ni ireruMain list hairu (Stage 1), nakanaka (Stage 4)
isseki nichou
polite isseki nichou desu
“one stone, two birds”
two benefits from one action
In English: kill two birds with one stone
Said casually about any double win, for example walking to work saves money and gets you exercise: isseki nichou jan. It comes up more lightly and more often than the English, usually as a cheerful aside.
Formal near-synonym: ikkyo ryoutoku.
sore isseki nichou jan
That's two birds with one stone!
それ一石二鳥じゃん
sore wa isseki nichou desu ne
That kills two birds with one stone.
それは一石二鳥ですね
Written 一石二鳥 · いっせきにちょうHeard 20× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesMain list jan (Stage 3)
negatte mo nai
polite negatte mo nai koto desu
“not (to be had) even by wishing”
better than you could have hoped for, most welcome
Almost always before a noun: negatte mo nai chansu / hanashi (a chance you couldn't have hoped for), or as sore wa negatte mo nai koto da. Also said on its own as a delighted reply to an offer. Said when an offer or a bit of luck is better than you'd dared to hope.
sore, negatte mo nai chansu jan!
You couldn't ask for a better chance!
それ、願ってもないチャンスじゃん！
negatte mo nai ohanashi desu.
That's more than I could have hoped for.
願ってもないお話です。
Written 願ってもない · ねがってもないHeard 16× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesMain list sore (Stage 1), jan (Stage 3)
tanabota
polite tanabota desu
“shelf rice-cake (a rice cake falling off the shelf)”
an unexpected windfall
In English: fall into one's lap
Said when something good lands in your lap without effort, like a ticket from someone's cancellation or a rival dropping out: tanabota da! It's the clipped, everyday form of the saying tana kara botamochi.
Full saying: tana kara botamochi.
tanabota datta ne
That just fell into your lap, huh.
棚ぼただったね
tanabota deshita ne
That was a lucky windfall.
棚ぼたでしたね
Written 棚ぼた · たなぼたHeard 3× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitles