とやかく

と

や

か

く

JLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

adverb

this and that; all sorts of things; one thing and another

usually written using kana alone

Used adverbially, almost always in the pattern とやかく言う (say this and that) or とやかく言われる (be told this and that), meaning to complain, criticize, or find fault in various ways.

Usage patterns

〈事こと〉についてとやかく言いうto criticize or complain about something
他た人にんのやり方かたについてとやかく言いうのはやめよう。
Let's stop criticizing the way other people do things.
〈人ひと〉にとやかく言いわれるto be criticized (about various things) by someone
上じょう司しにとやかく言いわれるのが嫌いやだ。
I hate being criticized by my boss over every little thing.

Kanji

兎rabbit, hare
角angle, corner, square

Related words

あれこれN2
あれこれ is a neutral 'this and that' usable for many topics, while とやかく is used almost only for critical or complaining remarks.
なんだかんだN2
なんだかんだ is a casual expression for summing up various things (often despite complaints), while とやかく specifically highlights the act of criticizing or finding fault.

Don't confuse with

とかくN1
とやかく sounds similar to とかく but specifically means to criticize or meddle ('say this and that about'), whereas とかく mainly means 'tend to' or 'various things' without that critical implication.

Written forms

とやかくUsage100%
Standard kana spelling; the word is usually written in kana.
兎とや角かく
ateji (phonetic kanji usage)rarely-used kanji form
Ateji spelling; rarely used.

Etymology

The origin is uncertain. The kanji 兎や角 is ateji, used phonetically without relation to the meaning of the characters.