Inu-mo aru-ke-ba boh-ni a-ta-ru
犬(いぬ)も歩けば(あるけば)棒(ぼう)に当たる(あたる)。
This popular proverb has two conflicting meanings. The meanings depend on what sticks 棒(ぼう) the dog gets.
One is ‘fortune’ 幸運(こううん); the other is ‘misfortune’ 災難(さいなん).
It is said in general that sticks 棒(ぼう) used to mean misfortune 災難(さいなん) first, but later changed to fortune 幸運(こううん).
It may be true that sticks are not welcomed by dogs, but, already in 江戸時代(Edo Jidai) Edo Period (1603-1868), the both examples were seen at the same time.
Hence, we’re not sure misfortune 災難(さいなん) was really the first.
The person who votes for misfortune 災難 would think that:
The dog should stay where he is. If he walked around, he would come across human beings who swing sticks about. If you stuck your nose into others’ business, you would run into trouble. Stay conservative.
On the other hand, the person who votes for fortune 幸運 would think that:
You’d better try to do anything rather than do nothing and stay where you are. If you did that, fortune would smile on you. Stay active.
The interpretation may depend on the economic situation of the times.
Furthermore, sticks 棒 are not used for good things nor bad ones either, meaning just ‘something’ 何か recently.
Let me show you another famous proverb:
Inu-ga nishi-mukya o-wa higashi
犬(いぬ)が西(にし)向きゃ(むきゃ)尾(お)は東(ひがし)
If a dog turns west, his tails turns east. That’s a matter of course.
When others tell you repeatedly what is of course or needless to say, you can use this phrase to make fun of them.
Instead of saying ‘Of course!’ you can use this proverb as if a weapon of word.
The similar one is:
Ame-no huru-hi-wa tenki-ga waru-i
雨(あめ)の降る(ふる)日(ひ)は天気(てんき)が悪い(わるい)。
A sunny day is a fine day. A rainy day is not a fine day. You don’t have to explain about it.
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