Friday, February 8, 2008

偉 - To Be GREAT, You Must Run Very Fast


Readings & Meanings:



えら(−い)

great, remarkable

Common Usage:

偉い

偉人

Examples:

大人になったら、偉い人になりたい。

ラシュモア山には、アメリカ歴史上の偉人の顔が刻まれている。

Translations:

When I grow up, I want to be a great person!

On Mount Rushmore, the faces of great people in American history are carved.

Bonus:

We know what the Nin-ben on the left is, but what is that mess of kanji on the right? 韋. Which nobody uses on its own. It's probably a holdover from China. The only obscure Japanese word that I can find that uses 韋 on its own is 韋駄天.

韋駄天 was originally a kind of god in Buddhism who could run very fast. Some demon stole one of the Buddha's bones. 韋駄天 was the only one who could catch the demon and retrieve the bone. Nowadays, nobody knows this story, but some people use the word いだてん for someone who is a swift runner.

References:

http://www.thejapanesepage.com/kanji/kanji/i.htm

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