雲泥の差

Japanese
Kanji in this term
雲 泥 差
うん
Grade: 2		 でい
Grade: S		 さ
Grade: 4
on’yomi

Etymology

Phrase composed of 雲泥 (undei, “clouds and mud”) +‎ の (no, possessive particle) +‎ 差 (sa, “difference”). Compare Chinese 雲泥之別／云泥之别 (yúnní zhī bié), 雲泥之差／云泥之差 (yúnní zhī chā, “a stark difference”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [ɯ̃ᵝɴde̞ː no̞ sa̠]

Noun

雲泥の差 (hiragana うんでいのさ, rōmaji undei no sa)

  1. (having) a great difference when compared with the same scale, one being far better than the other.
    • 1906, Natsume Soseki, Botchan:
      今 (いま)まで物理学校 (ぶつりがっこう)で毎日先生先生 (まいにちせんせいせんせい)と呼 (よ)びつけていたが、先 (せん)生 (せい)と呼 (よ)ぶのと、呼 (よ)ばれるのは雲 (うん)泥 (でい)の差 (さ)だ。
      Ima made butsuri gakkō de mainichi sensei sensei to yobitsuketeita ga, sensei to yobu no to, yobareru no wa undei no sa da.
      Up to now, in Physics School, I'd called out "professor, professor!" every day, but calling someone "professor" and being called "professor" myself was as different as clouds and mud.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.