老ろう婆ば心しん切せつ

ろ

う

ば

し

ん

せ

つ

Meanings

1

noun

grandmotherly solicitude; excessive solicitude

yojijukugo (four-character idiom)

A yojijukugo expressing well-meaning but sometimes overbearing concern, like that of a grandmother. Often used self-deprecatingly when giving advice.

老ろう婆ば心しん切せつながら一ひと言こと申もうし上あ

げ

ます

。

At the risk of being meddlesome, let me say one thing.

それは老ろう婆ば心しん切せつというものですよ。

That's what you'd call excessive solicitude.

Kanji

老old man, old age, grow old
婆old woman, grandma, wet nurse
心heart, mind, spirit
切cut, cutoff, be sharp
親parent, intimacy, relative

Related words

老ろう婆ば心しん
A shorter form with a similar meaning of grandmotherly concern, but less emphatic than 老婆心切.
お節せっ介かい
Means meddling or interfering, often with a negative connotation, while 老婆心切 implies well-intentioned concern.

Built from

老ろう婆ば心しん+切せつ

Written forms

老ろう婆ば心しん切せつ
Standard kanji spelling for this yojijukugo.
老ろう婆ば親しん切せつ
Alternate kanji spelling using 親切; less common than 老婆心切.

Etymology

From 老婆心, a Buddhist expression for compassionate, solicitous concern, and 切, “earnest” or “deep.” It describes kindly concern that may become excessive or intrusive.