JLPT N1Four-character idioms
呉越同舟
- Meaning
- 仲の悪い者同士が同じ場所に居合わせ協力せざるを得ないこと
- Explanation
- "呉越同舟" comes from "Sun Tzu": people of the rival states Wu (呉) and Yue (越) happened to be aboard the same boat and would cooperate if a storm struck. From this it means that bitter enemies find themselves in the same situation and cooperate when their interests align. Unlike c1, it does not simply mean riding the same boat; the core premise is a hostile relationship. Note that they are not comrades who share "the same goal" from the start.
Original Japanese explanation
「呉越同舟」は『孫子』に由来し、仇敵同士の呉と越の人が同じ舟に乗り合わせ、嵐に遭えば協力するという話から、仲の悪い者同士が同じ場に居合わせ、利害が一致して協力すること。c1 のように単に同じ船に乗る意ではなく、敵対関係という前提が核心。「同じ目的」を最初から共有する仲間ではない点に注意。
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