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Japanese Idiomatic Phrases

Here are a couple of Japanese idiomatic phrases. Learn a couple and impress your Japanese friends by using them at well chosen occasions. ;)

Phrase	Pronounciation	Literal translation	Meaning or English counterpart
猫に小判	neko ni koban	gold coins to a cat. *	Giving a gift to someone who can't appreciate it; A useless gesture; "Pearls before swine."
七転び八起き	nanakorobi yaoki	stumbling seven times but recovering eight.	Fall seven times, but get up eight.
三日坊主	mikka bōzu	a monk for (just) three days.	Giving up at the first sign of difficulty.
花よりだんご	hana yori dango	dumplings over flowers	The person to whom it is directed prefers practical gain to aesthetics.
水に流す	mizu ni nagasu	let flow in the water	Forgive and forget; water under the bridge
雨降って地固まる	ame futte chi katamaru	after the rain, earth hardens	After a storm, things will stand on more solid ground than they did before.
油を売る	abura o uru	to sell oil **	To spend time chitchatting or to waste time in the middle of a task

* Background: According to superstition, cats love round, shiny objects like coins even though they're ignorant of their true use, so this proverb also carries the connotation of an objective pursued without completely comprehending it.
** Background: Comes from Edo period hair oil salesmen who took their time chitchatting with the customers when selling.

This list of idioms was taken from http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Japanese_proverbs , and is released under GNU Free Documentation License.