195Japanese proverb ことわざ
犬も歩けば棒に当たる
いぬもあるけばぼうにあたるInu mo arukeba bō ni ataru
“Even a walking dog runs into something.”
Word for wordThe walking dog bumps into a stick.
The meaning
Going out, trying, mixing with the world exposes you — to knocks sometimes, but to finds as well. The modern sense keeps mostly this: it is by walking that something happens.
At the origin
The first card of the Edo iroha deck; its meaning drifted from risk to the good fortune of those who go out.
The characters
- 犬 inudog
- も moalso, even
- 歩けば arukebaif it walks
- 棒
- に
- 当たる
もParticle“Also, even”: adds or strengthens.
In practice
Step out of your routine once this week: go where something can happen.