木乃伊取りが木乃伊になる

Japanese

Kanji in this term
木 乃 伊 取 木 乃 伊
みいら と
Grade: 3 		みいら
Grade: 1 Jinmeiyō Jinmeiyō Grade: 1 Jinmeiyō Jinmeiyō
jukujikun kun'yomi jukujikun

Etymology

Attestable to at least 1881, when this expression was used in a kabuki play by Kawatake Mokuami.[1]

Literally “the mummy-taker becomes the mummy.”

Phrase

木乃伊取(ミイラと)りが木乃伊(ミイラ)になる • (mīra-tori ga mīra ni naru) 

  1. the searcher becomes the searched
  2. (by extension) the preacher becomes the converted

Synonyms

  • 木乃伊(ミイラ)取(と)りが木乃伊(ミイラ)に (mīra-tori ga mīra ni, shortened form)

References

  1. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.