Japanese Cats Poem by Ravi Kopra

From Japanese translators Yasushi Aoki and Emi Kamiya:


The idiom: 猫をかぶる
Literal translation: "To wear a cat on one's head."
What it means: "You're hiding your claws and pretending to be a nice, harmless person."

The idiom: 猫の手も借りたい
Literal translation: "Willing to borrow a cat's paws."*
What it means: "You're so busy that you're willing to take help from anyone."

The idiom: 猫の額
Literal translation: "Cat's forehead."
What it means: "A tiny space. Often, you use it when you're speaking humbly about land that you own."

The idiom: 猫舌
Literal translation: "Cat tongue."
What it means: "Needing to wait until hot food cools to eat it."

- from web pages