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On this page, I see the following listed as a Japanese proverb:

クラゲはエビと踊ることは決してありません 。
The jellyfish never dances with the shrimp.
Meaning: Enmity is inborn and natural, it can never be eliminated.

However, doing searches in Japanese for this doesn't yield anything online.

My theory is that this is either:

1) A very old proverb which is uncommon.

2) Actually from another language which somehow got back-translated into Japanese.

3) 'Evolved' from what it was originally.

Can anyone speak to the authenticity of this proverb? If it is authentic, can you confirm the meaning as well?

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  • Don't jellyfish eat shrimp?
    – istrasci
    Commented Sep 26, 2017 at 22:45
  • It sounds funny though, it’s gibberish to me. A bit Murakami-esque phrase(metaphor) to me rather than a proverb. I simply imagine a jellyfish is contending with a shrimp.
    – user25382
    Commented Sep 26, 2017 at 22:48
  • It’s not a proverb nor a saying. Never heard that expression. I doubt the authenticity of even ‘this page’. I won’t recommend you to learn Japanese with the website.
    – user19858
    Commented Sep 26, 2017 at 23:19
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    Want to comment again what I commented here: japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/18973/…
    – user4032
    Commented Sep 26, 2017 at 23:31
  • Thanks everyone, looks like this likely came from another language, or was (recently) invented by someone...Feel free to leave a proper answer if you like.
    – Locksleyu
    Commented Sep 27, 2017 at 1:24

1 Answer 1

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I have not seen such a saying. Perhaps 犬猿の仲 or 水と油 would be similar in meaning.

Some "proverbs" in the link are real ones, but many are not only unheard but also nonsensical. To list a few, I'm pretty certain that these are machine-translated gibberish.

  • 決して山を登ることはできません。富士、あなたは馬鹿だし、二度以上登ると、あなたは馬鹿だ。 (although there is a similar saying)
  • 知恵のない知識は愚か者の本の負荷です。
  • 風が巨大なオークに落ちるかもしれませんが、竹は地面にも曲がって、嵐の通過後直立しま。
  • 100マイル走る者は、90点を半分と考えるべきです。

Apparently the author doesn't even know mile is not used in Japan :)

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  • Thanks Naruto, good points I should have read the rest of that page more carefully (:
    – Locksleyu
    Commented Sep 27, 2017 at 5:28

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