すねをかじる · godan verb (-ru)
| Form | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | すねをかじる | すねをかじらない |
| Polite | すねをかじります | すねをかじりません |
| Past polite | すねをかじりました | すねをかじりませんでした |
| Past | すねをかじった | すねをかじらなかった |
| Te-form | すねをかじって | すねをかじらないで |
| Desire | すねをかじりたい | すねをかじりたくない |
| Potential | すねをかじれる | すねをかじれない |
| Passive | すねをかじられる | すねをかじられない |
| Causative | すねをかじらせる | すねをかじらせない |
| Causative passive | すねをかじらせられるalso すねをかじらされる | すねをかじらせられないalso すねをかじらされない |
| Volitional | すねをかじろう | |
| Polite volitional | すねをかじりましょう | |
| Imperative | すねをかじれ | すねをかじるな |
| Conditional | すねをかじれば | すねをかじらなければ |
| Tara conditional | すねをかじったら | すねをかじらなかったら |
live off someone else's money; depend on someone financially
Idiomatic expression literally meaning 'to gnaw on someone's shin'. Used almost exclusively for financial dependence, typically on one's parents. Often appears as 親のすねをかじる.
See also: 親のすねをかじる
He still lives off his parents even though he's thirty.
I can't keep depending on my parents forever.
寄生する is a more formal and biological term for parasitism, while すねをかじる is a colloquial idiom specifically for financial dependence on family.
親がかり is a noun meaning 'dependent on one's parents', often used in contexts like 親がかりの生活. すねをかじる is a more vivid, verb-based expression.
Kanji form using 脛 (shin) and 齧る (gnaw). Rarely used in modern writing; mainly encountered in literary or explanatory contexts.
Variant kanji form with 臑 (shin) and 嚙る (gnaw). Marked as rarely used.
Katakana spelling of すね, sometimes used for emphasis or in casual writing.
The idiom derives from the image of a child or dependent biting at a parent's shin to get attention or sustenance. The exact historical origin is uncertain, but it has been used in Japanese for centuries to describe financial dependence.