JA Japanese · colloquial · 8 of 9
腹を割って話す
Reading. はらをわってはなす
Romanization. hara o watte hanasu
serious, disarming
Word by word
belly · ACC · split-and · talk
Idiomatic sense
To talk frankly, putting one's real view on the table. The talk is often mutual, and it is often a little costly. One says the thing that has been held back.
It is not, by itself, the revealing of a plot or a surprise. That job belongs with phrases like spill the beans. 腹を割って話す is about candor between people.
Examples
今夜は腹を割って話そう。
Let's talk straight tonight.
腹を割って話してくれたおかげで、誤解が解けた。
They leveled with me, and the misunderstanding cleared.
Equivalents
Marks say how far the other phrase travels with this one. How to read them.
- near
to level with someone
Same job: stop managing the other person's reaction and say what is actually going on.
- partial
Both refuse euphemism. The French phrase names a fact in public. The Japanese one opens a private, honest conversation.
- partial
A habit of bluntness. 腹を割って話す is a choice, on a particular night, to say the real thing.
- none
A secret getting out. Different job. Listed so the two are not swapped.
Notes
Do not mix this with 腹を切る. Cutting the belly belongs to a different set of phrases, about taking responsibility, and historically to seppuku. Splitting the belly here is only the figure of opening what was closed.
The person spoken with takes と: 彼と腹を割って話す.
Sources
- Headword confirmed in JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Wording here is original.