Yojijukugo (四字熟語) II

Part 2 in my hunt for yojijukugo.

You might’ve read about my previous find in the quest for yojijukugo in which I found something interesting and a bit of history while I was at it.

As far as I know, this next yojijukugo has no real samurai history behind it, but is similarly interesting and enlightening. This idiom is essentially a Japanese trait, as anyone who has spent any time in Japan would recognize its part in the non-individualistic society, unlike that of Western culture .

不言実行

Fugen Jikkou (foo-gen jee-koh)

不 = fu = denial
言 = gen = to say
字 = jitsu = in practice
行 = kou = to do

“Fu”, when placed together with “gen” to make “fugen” means ‘to say nothing’. Appending “jitsu” with “kou” makes “jikkou”, which translates into ‘to do something’.

The two words together eloquently describe a common Japanese virtue, even though some Japanese people don’t naturally refer to the phrase directly:
“to not complain and do what should be done”.