KANAE
129Japanese idiom 四字熟語

下手の横好き

Heta no yokozuki

“Unskilled, but devoted.”

Word for wordThe sideways love of the clumsy.

The meaning

One can deeply love what one does poorly — and that is perfectly fine. Pleasure does not wait for talent; and sometimes, by force of love, talent ends up coming.

At the origin

An affectionate expression for unpretentious passions.

The characters

  1. 下手 hetaunskilled
  2. の noof (link)
  3. 横好き

The complete word-by-word reading, in KANAE.

ParticleLinks two words: possession or belonging, like “of”.

In practice

Practice without shame what you love without excelling at it.

Themes

Similar proverbs

Related expressions

See also