烏う鷺ろ

noun

crows and herons

Literal meaning: the birds themselves. Rarely used outside classical or poetic contexts.

• 古ふるい和わ歌かでは、烏う鷺ろが対たい比ひ的てきに詠よまれることがある。

  In old waka poems, crows and herons are sometimes contrasted.

noun

black and white (go stones); go (game)

Metonymic use: crows (black) and herons (white) refer to the black and white stones of go, and by extension the game itself. Found in classical go literature and set phrases like 烏鷺の争い.

• 「烏う鷺ろの争あらそい」は囲い碁ごの対たい局きょくを風ふう雅がに言いい表あらわした言こと葉ばだ。

  The phrase 'crow-and-heron contest' is an elegant way to refer to a game of go.