Freq. Frequency Top 100,000 Expressions 目め くじら 立た てる find fault over trifles; get angry over minor things; raise one's eyebrows 目め くじらを 立た てる find fault with trivial things; get angry over trifles; raise one's eyebrows Related words 目め 尻じり 目尻 specifically means the outer corner of the eye, while 目くじら can refer to either corner and is more commonly used in the idiom 目くじらを立てる .
目め 頭がしら 目頭 means the inner corner of the eye, contrasting with 目尻 (outer corner). 目くじら is a more general term for the eye corner.
Written forms 目め くじら Usage 92%
Standard kanji-kana spelling. The kanji 目 means 'eye', and くじら is a phonetic rendering.
めくじら Usage 7%
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially when the kanji is not needed.
メクジラ Usage 2%
Etymology The form developed from 目くじり , an older word for the outer corner of the eye. The change from くじり to くじら produced the modern fixed expression.
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