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言葉足らず (ことばたらず) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
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た
ら
ず
で
、
何なに
を
言い
い
たい
の
か
よく
わから
なかっ
た
。
His explanation was inarticulate, and I couldn't really understand what he wanted to say.
I gave an inarticulate reply and made the other person angry.
Kanji 足 leg, foot, be sufficient Related words 口下手くちべた 口下手 refers to being poor at speaking in general, while 言葉足らず focuses on not saying enough or failing to convey the intended meaning in a specific instance.
舌した 足た らず 舌足らず often implies a physical speech impediment or childish pronunciation, whereas 言葉足らず is about insufficient verbal expression.
Etymology Compound of 言葉 (kotoba, 'words') and 足らず (tarazu, 'insufficient'), the negative form of 足りる (tariru, 'to be enough').
