Literally
this means "Your eyes are swimming," which is a way to say
"You're lying." This feels
very similar to the English expression, "Look me in the eye and say
that"--both statements seem predicated on the idea (accurate or not) that it's hard to look
into someone's eyes and lie. Me ga
oyogu suggests that the person being
spoken to can't keep his/her eyes still because s/he is lying. I've only heard this expression said a few
times, always in the form of teasing:
「うそでしょう!目が泳いでいるよ!」 ("Uso deshou! Me ga
oyoideiru yo!")
This video. . .isn't anything like the context around which I learned the phrase and has nothing to do with anyone lying. But it's the most interesting video that I came across in looking for visual examples of 目が泳ぐ. I wish I could've seen my own reaction as I watched it for the first time; I was leaning back in my chair thinking "Oh my goodness," at the same time unable to divert my eyes from watching it.
For beginner to perhaps intermediate-level students, Japanese words, phrases, and expressions, as learned by an American living in Tokyo. . Some of it I absorbed from my surroundings--slang, abbreviated terms, or new katakana-ized words that have recently entered the Japanese language. Some words are straight-up conventional vocabulary that I've found helpful to know, either in the classroom (where I taught English) or in everyday life, and some words just make me smile.
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おつかれやま!!! (In romaji, "Otsukareyama!!!" In kanji, お疲れ山?)
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2 comments:
Aimyon uses this expression in her song 君はロックを聴かない。
君は気づくのかい? なぜ今笑うんだい?嘘みたいに泳ぐ目
That's pretty cool. Thanks, Rolf.
あけおめ!ことよろ!!
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