In my JLPT workbook, it has a section which gives a list of idioms that use [虫]{むし}
.
仕事{しごと}の虫 (worker bee)
点取{てんとり}虫 (derogatory term for a student who tries too hard)
虫がいい (selfish)
泣{な}き虫 (cry baby)
弱{よわ}虫 (weakling)
腹{はら}の虫がおさまらない (extremely angry)
虫が知{し}らせる (forebode)
虫が好{す}かない (antipathy to)
虫の居所{いどころ}が悪{わる}い (in a bad mood)
娘{むすめ}に悪{わる}い虫がつく (daughter has a lousy boyfriend)
I'm curious about the origins of the "bug" being used in these phrases.
In one sense, some of them are evocative of a sort of character, a "bug" that is present when things are bad, when there's a sense of foreboding, when one feels down. Almost like the bug is an entity that causes trouble wherever it goes.
In another sense, sometimes the person being described is the "bug", as if they have become the "bug" by being weak, by being a drone, by being a whiner, or whatever the case is.
So, do some or all of these uses of 虫
come from the same origin?
What exactly is "the bug" when it's the first sense of a character that is present, such as when it's "in the stomach"?
Bonus questions:
Is there any connection in terms of origins between the phrases 「腹{はら}の虫がおさまらない」
and 「腹が立つ」
?
Is 「仕事{しごと}の虫」
equivalent to "workaholic"? Or does it not have negative connotations of over-work?
Is 「点取{てんとり}虫」
equivalent to "teacher's pet"? Or does sucking up to the teacher having no relation?