Against the clock
Idioms, Stage 2chunk 11 of 21Effort, ease & difficulty
Time running out or slipping away: over in no time, stalling for time, and a deadline finally lighting a fire.
- atto iu main no time, over in a flashliterally “the time it takes to say 'ah'”
- jikan o kasegustall for timeliterally “earn time”
- shiri ni hi ga tsukufinally feel the pressure of a deadlineliterally “fire catches on one's backside”
atto iu ma
“the time it takes to say 'ah'”
in no time, over in a flash
In English: in the blink of an eye
Said all the time about time flying (atto iu ma datta ne) and about things happening fast (atto iu ma ni owatta). Takes ni before a verb and da / datta at the end; iu is pronounced yuu.
Plain alternative: sugu (right away).
ichinen tte atto iu ma da ne
A year goes by in no time, huh.
一年ってあっという間だね
ichinen tte atto iu ma desu ne
A year goes by in no time, doesn't it.
一年ってあっという間ですね
Written あっという間 · あっというまHeard 161× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesMain list iu (Stage 2)
jikan o kasegu
polite jikan o kasegimasu
“earn time”
stall for time
In English: buy time
Delaying on purpose so you or someone else can get ready or act, at work, in a game or in a crisis: chotto jikan kasegou. Not jikan o tsubusu, which is filling spare time.
Noun: jikan kasegi (a stalling tactic).
mada junbi dekitenai kara, chotto jikan kasegou
We're not ready yet, so let's stall a bit.
まだ準備できてないから、ちょっと時間稼ごう
mada junbi ga dekite inai node, sukoshi jikan o kasegimashou
We're not ready yet, so let's stall for a little while.
まだ準備ができていないので、少し時間を稼ぎましょう
Written 時間を稼ぐ · じかんをかせぐHeard 193× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitlesMain list jikan (Stage 4)
shiri ni hi ga tsuku
polite shiri ni hi ga tsukimasu
“fire catches on one's backside”
finally feel the pressure of a deadline
In English: feel the heat
Describes finally getting going because a deadline or exam is close, about yourself or a procrastinator: shiri ni hi ga tsuite yatto yaridashita. In speech ketsu ni hi ga tsuku (rough) is most common; oshiri ni hi ga tsuku is the softer, polite-friendly version.
Causing it: shiri o tataku (push someone to get moving).
shiri ni hi ga tsuite, yatto yaridashita
Once the pressure was on, I finally got going.
尻に火がついて、やっとやり出した
oshiri ni hi ga tsuite, yatto yaridashimashita
Once the pressure was on, I finally got going.
お尻に火がついて、やっとやり出しました
Written 尻に火がつく · しりにひがつくHeard 17× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitles