右往左往
Running around like a chicken with its head cut off
右往左往
Japanese
うおうさおう
Literal
go right and left
English Equivalent
Running around like a chicken with its head cut off; go in all directions
Notes
Learning this 四字熟語 is a great way to remember the 音読み readings of right and left. I don’t know about you, but learning みぎ and ひだり seemed easy compared to remembering which was う and which was さ.
If you can remember ‘right’ goes first, saying this fun word will help clear up the confusion. う (right) おう、さ (left) おう
右折—a right turn (often heard by car navigation systems)
左折—a left turn
突然の地震で人々は右往左往した。 A sudden earthquake caused the people to go in all directions.
突然の—sudden; unexpected
地震—earthquake
人々—people [The 々 shows repetition of the previous kanji: 人人; note the sound change on the second ひと]
した—use する with 右往左往
