Learn the meanings too! Cool four-character idioms that elementary school students will want to remember

10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminderkepiko
Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked as a kindergarten teacher for 10 years and as an after-school childcare instructor for 7 years, then took a position as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I engaged in activities that introduced Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational activities, working with many children. Later, through freelance writing, planning, and editing at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and sharing. Drawing on the perspective cultivated in the field of education and my experience as an editor, I provide practical information with an emphasis on both input and output, mainly in areas related to music and children. My hobbies include instruments, singing, handicrafts, toys, drawing, traditional games, the outdoors, and books. My special skill is spinning-top tricks.

“I want to learn some cool four-character idioms!” Many elementary school students probably feel that way—wanting to use them in school essays or speeches, or even make them their future goals.

Four-character idioms are full of words that express strong will and admirable attitudes.

Because they carry deep meanings, the more you learn about them, the more appealing they become.

Even though they’re just four characters long, many of them really resonate in your heart.

In this article, we’ll introduce four-character idioms that are easy for elementary school students to remember and use.

If you try them in conversations with friends or in your writing, you’re sure to develop wonderful expressive skills.

Learn the Meanings Too! Cool Four-Character Idioms Elementary Schoolers Want to Remember (41–50)

moment by moment

idiom-encyclopedia.com

It’s a four-character idiom that expresses things happening one after another over time, as well as the passage of time itself.

It has an interesting structure that repeats each character in the word for “time,” which both emphasizes the original meaning and conveys a sense of depth.

The repeated sounds are also key: they give the phrase a light, rhythmic feel while evoking the image of time being marked little by little.

It’s a term that seems to carry an anticipation of how circumstances will change as time goes by.

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Learn the meanings too! Cool four-character idioms elementary schoolers will want to remember (51–60)

ecstatic; overjoyed; beside oneself with joy

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You might not hear ‘uchōtengai’ very often, but you’ve probably heard ‘uchōten,’ right? Uchōten refers to a state where things go so well that you become overjoyed to the point of losing sight of your surroundings.

In other words, uchōtengai describes being even more ecstatic than uchōten.

It’s natural to be happy when things go well, but if you don’t pay attention to your surroundings, you might get into an accident or get hurt.

If you’re going to be uchōtengai, make sure you’ve secured your safety first.

And if you can also think about how your display of joy looks to those around you, that would be wonderful.

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to eat and drink like a horse; gluttony and heavy drinking

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This four-character idiom describes gulping down food and drink in large quantities—like cows drinking water and horses eating fodder—and expresses a voracious appetite.

It’s similar to “binge eating and drinking,” and is often used with a negative nuance, but it can also convey positive feelings when simply highlighting hearty appetite.

Because animals eat as much as they want when they want, the phrase can also evoke an image of unrestrained desire, prompting us to reflect on our own approach to eating.

Since it can carry either a positive or negative meaning, it’s important to judge from context which sense is intended at the moment.

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ecstatic frenzy

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This four-character idiom expresses a state of intense joy so great that you can’t help but break into dance.

It conveys the utmost happiness, with each character carrying a positive nuance in its strength.

Even the “ecstatic joy” part alone communicates delight, but adding “wild dance” brings a comical feel, as if you might actually start dancing.

It’s less about everyday, casual happiness and more perfectly suited to special occasions—times when the joy feels especially big.

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a strong start with a weak finish (literally, “dragon’s head, snake’s tail”)

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This is a four-character idiom used as a metaphor for situations that start off vigorously but lose momentum toward the end.

It compares a head that is splendid and powerful like a dragon to a tail that is thin and feeble like a snake, expressing a change in momentum.

It can be interesting to imagine what such a figure would actually look like.

The phrase originates from Zen Buddhism and is said to have been used by the Zen monk Chen to criticize another monk.

It’s a saying that makes us reflect on maintaining our drive to the very end in any endeavor.

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Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Pronounced “seishin-ittō,” it carries the meaning that by focusing your mind, you can accomplish any difficult task, and that even challenging things can surely be achieved through sustained concentration and effort.

It’s an encouraging four-character idiom suggesting that if you stay focused and don’t give up on lessons, studies, or interests, you can reach your goals.

It may also be beneficial for parents to adopt the same mindset—watching over their children and boosting their spirits—as this can have a positive impact on the children as well.

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