[Japanese Idioms by Flashcards]
芋［の子］を洗うよう
“like washing [a bucketful of] potatoes”
(so crowded you can hardly turn around, jam-packed, mobbed with people)
Summer weekends at the beach in Japan are impossible. The beaches are so crowded that you can hardly make space for your beach mat. When hordes of people play in the waist-deep ocean waters, wave after wave jostles them into each other. This commotion resembles a wooden bucketful of potatoes sloshing around while being washed by the agitator. Usage is restricted to water-related scenes.
Sample text:
(Style: written/informal)
Shichigatsu gejun no nichiyoobi, natsuyasumi ni haitta node, kodomozure no kazoku ga ooku, kaisui yokujoo wa imo [no ko] o arau yoona konzatsuburi to natta.
Since it was a Sunday toward the end of July and summer vacation, there were a lot of families with kids, and the beach was jam-packed.
Japanese Idioms
