"Shaka-ni Seppou" vs "Uma-no Mimi-ni Nenbutsu"

Mon Sep 30 09:59:04 1996
Newsgroups: sci.lang.japan
From: Michitaka Suzuki

Here are two popular Japanese metaphors with similar meanings in a sense:

Whatever precious sermon you may have to give, Buddha is such a great philosopher that it's quite a waste of time to preach it to him. At the same time, whatever precious invocation you may have to give, reciting it to a horse's ear is not worth the effort at all. So both metaphors show that what you may think valuable can be quite meaningless for someone else.

Though they may look similar, there's a difference. If you choose the wrong one, that may cause a serious problem. The following is a correct usage in a very courteous opening of speech:

Mina-sama-gata sho-senpai-o mae-ni shite, watashi-no youna jakuhai-mono-ga imasara konna koto-o moushi-ageru-no-mo, "shaka-ni seppou" de gozaimasu-ga, ... This sounds very nice. But what if you goof in the selection? Look the following:

Mina-sama-gata sho-senpai-o mae-ni shite, watashi-no youna jakuhai-mono-ga imasara konna koto-o moushi-ageru-no-mo, "uma-no mimi-ni nenbutsu" de gozaimasu-ga, ... /(^_^) Cheers,

Mitch

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