[Japanese Idioms by Flashcards]
馬の骨
“the bones of a horse”
(an unknown person with no references, a person of unknown background)
Imagine the skeleton of a horse half-buried in the sand. Who knows who the horse was? What of the horse’s master? Nobody knows. That’s the feeling behind the expression when applied to a newcomer in the tight-knit Japanese society. Uma no hone carries a heavy negative connotation when referring to an outsider.
Sample text:
(Style: spoken/formal/female)
A: Kekkon mae no musume ga doko no uma no hone da ka wakaranai yoona otoko to tsukiatte wa ikemasen yo.
A: 結婚前の
A: Before marriage a girl should not go out with a man of unknown background.
Japanese Idioms
