Proverb / Kotowaza
目くそ鼻くそを笑う
Criticizing someone for a flaw that you also possess without realizing it.
Eye mucus laughing at nose mucus
Quick Answer
Criticizing someone for a flaw that you also possess without realizing it.
- Literal Image
- Eye mucus laughing at nose mucus
- Closest Equivalent
- The pot calling the kettle black
- How to Use It
- It is used to point out hypocrisy or lack of self-awareness, in a critical or dismissive way when two people are equally at fault.
Meaning
This proverb describes the act of ridiculing or criticizing another person's faults or mistakes while being completely unaware of one's own similar shortcomings. It highlights the irony of looking down on others when both parties are essentially in the same situation.
Literal Image
Eye mucus laughing at nose mucus
Equivalent Proverbs
The pot calling the kettle black
A very close equivalent describing hypocrisy regarding the same flaw.
How to Use It
It is used to point out hypocrisy or lack of self-awareness, in a critical or dismissive way when two people are equally at fault.
Tone
This expression is critical and somewhat informal, using blunt terms for bodily waste to emphasize that both sides are equally 'dirty' or flawed.
Examples
あの人は自分の失敗を棚に上げて、他人のミスを笑う。まさに目くそ鼻くそを笑うとはこのことだ。
That person sets aside their own failures and laughs at others' mistakes. It's exactly a case of the eye mucus laughing at the nose mucus.
自分の欠点には目を向けず、他人の些細な欠点ばかり指摘するのは、目くそ鼻くそを笑うようなものだ。
Pointing out only the minor flaws of others without looking at your own faults is like the eye mucus laughing at the nose mucus.
Learning Notes
Key Vocabulary
The vocabulary is simple and familiar, but the idiomatic nature of the phrase and its blunt imagery require some idiomatic context.
目くそ
めくそ / mekuso
eye mucus / sleep
鼻くそ
はなくそ / hanakuso
nose mucus / booger
笑う
わらう / warau
to laugh / to ridicule
Usage Profile
Usage note: Contains blunt words for bodily waste; use with caution as it can be perceived as slightly vulgar or highly dismissive.
Misread Risk
Do not use this to describe people cooperating; it is strictly for situations where one person hypocritically mocks another for the same flaw.
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Related Proverbs
Origin
Since both eye mucus and nose mucus are considered dirty substances, the proverb uses them as an analogy for two people who both have faults. It mocks the absurdity of one 'dirty' thing ridiculing another for being dirty without realizing its own state.
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Source Note
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