There is a class of Buddhist ascetics who fast for religious purposes. Like Mahatma Ghandhi, these holy men usually do not have enough excess fat on them to feed a gnat for a day. They are called:
• rakan 羅漢 skin-and-bones Buddhist fanatics (The word was once applied to Buddha’s five hundred disciples who had entered into the state of Nirvana.)
In the last extreme, those fleshless ones become mere:
• ikeru shikabane 生ける屍 living corpses
Men who are not necessarily fat but whose bone structure (hone-gumi 骨組み) is huge can be disparaged with words like these:
• udo うど great awkward oaf
Ō-otoko sōmi ni chie ga mawari-kane
大男総身に知恵が回りかね。 The brain power of a big man does not extend throughout his body.
That is how the proverb translates but it’s easier just to say, “You dumb lout.”
A David next to such a Goliath could be cut down with the following:
• chinchikurin ちんちくりん dwarfish
• kobito 小人 pygmy, runt, shrimp
• issun-bōshi 一寸法師 Tom Thumb (lit., a one-inch monk)
Nani? Ore wa issun-bōshi datte? Kisama wa keshikaran kobito ja nai ka. なに。俺tま一寸法師た って。貴様は怪しからん小人じゃないか。
What? I’m a Tom Thumb? Why, you’re nothing but an insolent runt, aren’t you!
FACE
• nikibi-zura にきび面 pimple-covered face
• chimmurui no kao 珍無類の顔 face that would stop a clock
• umeboshi-gao 梅干顔 prune face
• minikui kao 醜い顔 ugly face
Yukiko no minikui kao wo mita dake de mushizu ga hashiru. 由紀子の醜い顔を見ただけで虫唾が走る。
The mere sight of Yukiko’s ugly face sends chills down my back.
Iinazuke no kao wo mita dake de Tomoe wa muna-kuso ga waruku natta.
許婚の顔を見ただけで友恵は胸糞が悪くなった。
The mere sight of her fiance’s face nauseated Tomoe.
• sukebē 助平 lecherous face
Tarehoho no sukebē na tsuragamae datta.
垂れ頰の助平な面構えだった。
It was a lecherous face with drooping jowls.
Sayuri wa me mo aterarenai kurai hidoi kao desu.
小百合は目も当てられないくらい酷い顔です。
Sayuri’s face is too awful to look at.
The following three words are all used to mean a stupid-looking face:
• baka-zura 馬鹿づら
• ahō-zura 阿呆づら
• manuke-zura 間抜けづら
EYES
• yani-me やに目 rheumy-eyed
• hingara-me ひんがら目 cross-eyed (Suga-me が目 means the same as hingara-me ひんがら目)
• de-me 出目 popeyed lecher
• donguri-manako どんぐり眼 goggle-eyed (donguri どんぐり is acorn; manako 眼 is another word for eyes).
• kirenaga no me 切れ長の目 slit-eyes
• tsuri-me つり目 slant-eyed
• Ron-Pari ロンパリ wall-eyes (lit., London-Paris eyes)
Imagine that you are standing athwart the English Channel and are looking at both the cities simultaneously.
MOUTH
• wani-guchi 鰐口 mouth of a crocodile
• ha-nuke 歯抜け toothless
• deppa 出っ歯 buck-toothed (Soppa 反っ歯 also means buck-toothed or, according to some sources, snaggle-toothed.)
Iki no kusaki wa nushi shirazu.
息の臭きは主知らず。
One is not aware of his own foul breath.
This is a literary expression used to describe someone who is blissfully unaware of his own faults. This is not, however, the case for the unfortunates around him.
NOSE
• kagi-bana 鉤鼻 hook-nosed
• tongari-bana とんがり鼻 pointed nose
• hanatare kozō 痍垂れ小僧 snot-nosed brat
VOICE
• shagare-goe 嗄れ声 hoarse-voiced
FOREHEAD
• dekosuke デコ助 beetle-browed
HAIR
• kebukai 毛深い hairy
• hage-atama 秀げ頭 bald
• ketō 毛唐 hairy barbarian (usually meaning a Westerner)
Kanojo no oppai ni wa kowakute kuroi ke ga haete iru-tte. 彼女のおっぱいには強くて黒い毛が生えているって。
I hear she has coarse black hairs growing out of her tits.
• kedarake 毛だらけ hairy
• paipan パイパン woman with no crotch hair
LEGS
• soto-ashi 外足 knock-knees
• ganimata がに股 bow-legged
ODOR
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