# 尻はしょりの勢いで駆け付けて



## Pot-Bouille

Hello,
I get the general meaning of this phrase, which is describing a person rushing down (a hallway) in an extreme hurry. 
Nevertheless I have absolutely no clue what はしょり stands for, as the author (Miyabe Miyuki) didn't use kanji.
Anybody has any idea? Thank you!


----------



## Wishfull

Hi.

はしょり　is the noun form of the verb "はしょる”（端折る）.
はしょる　means "abbreviate", "omit", " to make it shorter".

尻をはしょる　means "to omit the last part."
尻はしょり　means "Omitting the last part/portion."
So 尻はしょりの勢い　might mean that _it is so fast that the last part should be omitted.
_

I think I am correct about the interpretation.
BUT I didn't hear the expression for all of my life.
I wonder this is the writer's own creation. Her original expression?
OR I just didn't know because I didn't read many books.


----------



## rukiak

I haven't known that she is using such an expression.
The phrase sounds bizzare, and indecent. Not good word by itself.


----------



## Flaminius

尻はしょり may be indecent to modern ears —thank goodness I am proudly old-fashioned— but people practised it very commonly when kimono was worn as ordinary garment.  It is the act or the state of tucking the skirt of one's kimono under one's _obi_ (belt).  This was done for the ease of gait.  Cf. these pictures.

The figurative sense clearly out-lived the fashion but, judging from the reactions from fellow posters, the expression may be dying out too.


----------



## Pot-Bouille

Thank you all for your answers. 
I'm a little puzzled now, does this phrase mean that :
1. she is running with the skirt of her kimono tucked in her Obi so she can run more at ease.
2. she is running so fast that she omitted something (cf. wishfull's post) 
Thank you again.


----------



## rukiak

Hmm...
It seems like, Pot-Bouille omitted the important context, deliberately or not, when he(she) posted this problem.
I guess this is about one of Miyabe's historical fictions, and if I noticed the information, for example, the character must be wearing Kimono, I must have accepted the nuance differently.


----------



## Flaminius

Even if Miyabe's story takes place in the contemporary Japan, 尻はしょり may be used figuratively to say that her 勢い was great.


----------



## Pot-Bouille

rukiak said:


> Hmm...
> It seems like, Pot-Bouille omitted the important context, deliberately or not, when he(she) posted this problem.
> I guess this is about one of Miyabe's historical fictions, and if I noticed the information, for example, the character must be wearing Kimono, I must have accepted the nuance differently.


I didn't omit anything, as there is no way to know whether she's wearing a kimono or not, the scene takes place in the middle of the night, and the character who comes running down the hallway was sleeping just before. It's impossible to know from the text in what type of outfit this character slept. 
In any case, thank you.


----------



## Wishfull

Hi.
Thanks to Flam, I now know that my post #2 is wrong.
Please forget about post #2.

I think it doesn't matter she actually wears kimono or not.
尻はしょりの勢いで駆けつける　means,
・とても急いでいるさま
・和服のすそがひるがえるほどの速さで
・和服のすそが　ひるがえる　こと　は　日本女性の行儀としては、　とても　はしたない
ことになるのであるが、　それも無視するほど　急いでいるさま
・人目もはばからず急ぐさま

I think the same kind of expression would be
髪を振り乱して駆け付けて

My　original expression;
口からヨダレが横に流れ出る勢いで　駆け付けて
（It doesn't matter if she really did it or not, but figurative sense.)
(This expression is very, very dirty. Please do not use )


----------



## rukiak

Now I agree with the opinion that the phrase means とても急いでいるさま ,derived from traditional Japanese Kimono culture.

And, sorry for misunderstanding your situation, Pot-Bouille.
( But I still suspect that the book is one of her historical fictions... would you inform me the book title if you know,Pot-Bouille? )

尻はしょりの勢い／尻端折りの勢い
>I think it doesn't matter she actually wears kimono or not.
I doubt it. 
Because, 1stly, this must be the first time for me to hear this phrase, so it is not natural for me. and 2ndly, I can't find any examples in the dictionary (急いでいる様をあらわす、「尻端折りの勢い」というセットでの用例がないということです。つまり、着物に関係なく使えるという確証が得られない、ということです。), finally, I can find the phrase only in the historic works like 時代物 on web search and book-review search.

So, I think, we can say the meaning of the phrase is actually とても急いでいるさま, but it is risky to use it freely as a meaning of  とても急いでいるさま. If I used, I just used in some histrical context...

髪を振り乱して駆け付けて and 口からヨダレが横に流れ出る勢いで駆け付けて sounds good expressions as synonyms.


----------



## Aoyama

Pour faire simple : il/elle cavalait, avec son kimono retroussé (donc, les fesses à l'air).
Something like : he/she was running down, with his/her kimono rolled up (and thus, his/her behind exposed*).
*Not really bare, just not covered by the garnment.


----------



## Pot-Bouille

rukiak said:


> ( But I still suspect that the book is one of her historical fictions... would you inform me the book title if you know,Pot-Bouille? )


It's「本所深川不思議草紙」which is indeed a 時代物. 

Thank you for looking into this so thoroughly, all is clear now.


----------

