057Japanese proverb ことわざ
目は口ほどに物を言う
めはくちほどにものをいうMe wa kuchi hodo ni mono o iu
“The eyes speak as much as the mouth.”
The meaning
A gaze says what words keep silent — affection, boredom, reproach. Reading eyes, and knowing what your own say, is a whole language.
At the origin
A traditional proverb on the silent eloquence of the face.
The characters
- 目 meeyes
- は watopic marker
- 口 kuchimouth
- ほど
- に
- 物
- を
- 言う
はParticleMarks the topic: what the sentence is about — “as for…”.
In practice
In a conversation, listen to the eyes too: yours and theirs.
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 107 物言えば唇寒し秋の風 As soon as words are spoken, the lips feel cold — autumn wind.
- 058 口は災いの元 The mouth is the source of misfortune.
- 059 言わぬが花 Not saying is the flower.
- 060 良薬は口に苦し Good medicine is bitter in the mouth.
- 215 行く春や鳥啼き魚の目は泪 Departing spring — birds cry, and there are tears in the eyes of fish.