Word Meaning 棒ほど願って針ほど叶う

ぼうほどねがってはりほどかなう bouhodonegatteharihodokanau

棒ほど願って針ほど叶う is read as ぼうほどねがってはりほどかなう (bouhodonegatteharihodokanau) and means you can't always get what you want.

Meaning

English

you can't always get what you want
man plans and God laughs
things don't always turn out the way you hope

Reading

Kana

ぼうほどねがってはりほどかなう

Romaji

bouhodonegatteharihodokanau

Stroke Sequence

11 Characters • 66 Total Strokes

Study Signals and Categories

JLPT N1 Jōyō Jinmeiyō Kanken 準1級 Proverb ✓ Rank 142503 Priority W

Related Vocabulary

Max. 12

棒針

ぼうばり

knitting needle

針ほどのことを棒ほどに言う

はりほどのことをぼうほどにいう

exaggeration

願ったり叶ったり

ねがったりかなったり

everything working out as desired

針小棒大

しんしょうぼうだい

exaggeration

棒高跳び

ぼうたかとび

pole vault

棒手振

ぼてふり

Edo-era street merchant who carried wares hanging from a pole, hawking them in the street

叶う

かなう

to come true (of a wish, prayer, etc.)

棒

ぼう

spoken monotonously

棒立ち

ぼうだち

standing upright

棒状

ぼうじょう

cylinder or rod-shaped

棒引き

ぼうびき

tug of war played with a pole

棒読み

ぼうよみ

reading a Chinese classical text without translating it into Japanese