033Japanese proverb ことわざ
短気は損気
たんきはそんきTanki wa sonki
“A short temper is a losing temper.”
The meaning
Anger and impatience charge their price to the one who feels them: regretted words, closed doors, wasted chances. Patience is also sound arithmetic.
At the origin
An Edo proverb built on an untranslatable pun: tanki (short temper) rhymes with sonki (loss).
The characters
- 短気 tankishort temper
- は watopic marker
- 損気
はParticleMarks the topic: what the sentence is about — “as for…”.
In practice
When irritation rises, delay your reply by an hour.