腹が立つ

Word by word

belly · NOM · stands up

Idiomatic sense

To get angry. In ordinary use it runs from a sharp irritation up to real anger. 腹, the belly, is where Japanese puts that feeling.

It is a plain way to report the feeling. It is not a clinical description, and it is not the strongest word in the set. むっとする is a smaller flinch. 激怒する is fury, and it sounds written.

Examples

1. 約束を破られて、正直腹が立った。

   They broke their word, and I was genuinely angry.

2. あの言い方には腹が立つ。

   That way of putting it really gets to me.

Equivalents

Marks say how far the other phrase travels with this one. How to read them.

1. near

   English

   to be angry

   The job matches. English says it with a plain adjective, and the belly is not in the picture.

2. near

   German

   sich ärgern

   Everyday anger, said without a set image.

3. near

   Chinese

   生气

   The ordinary verb for getting angry. 气 is the figure, not 腹.

4. partial

   English

   to get on someone's nerves

   Often a smaller, repeating irritation. 腹が立つ can be that, and it can also be a full anger.

Notes

The cause often takes に: あの言い方には腹が立つ. A person one is angry at can be marked the same way. Spoken Japanese also shortens the phrase to 腹立つ, dropping が. The full form is the headword.

No history of the belly-as-anger figure is offered here. It is simply the usual place the language puts this feeling.

Sources

• Headword confirmed in JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0) as an expression and a godan verb, also written 腹がたつ. Glosses and examples here are original.