# 言わぬが花



## Shilon

Sorry, but what is the meaning of this???

Someone (a bad person that only wants to destroy and never had worried about the future) is dying, and suddenly asks:
What do you see when you look to the future?
And the other, with a smile, say this:

*「それは言わぬが花よ。」*

thanks in advance, guys!


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## Katzuhiko Minohara

それは言わぬが花よ。
It's better not to say that.
It's more beautiful not to say that.


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## Shilon

Katzuhiko Minohara said:


> それは言わぬが花よ。
> It's better not to say that.
> It's more beautiful not to say that.


Is really just this??? I was thinking something about a flower... something more complicated *facepalm


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## Katzuhiko Minohara

Yes, 花 is flower, but in a figurative expression. 
Maybe it means
It looks cooler not to say that
それは言わぬ*が花よ*
それは言わぬ*方がカッコイイ*


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## Shilon

Muchas gracias por la ayuda!!! =D


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## SoLaTiDoberman

Keeping silent is a virtue.
No comment is a virtue.
It's a beautiful "flower" of modesty/mystery/imagination.

If you said something about it, you would ruin that virtue.


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## gengo

Shilon said:


> *「それは言わぬが花よ。」*


It's a set expression, and translates to "That is better left unsaid."
O algo como _Mejor no hablar de ciertas cosas_.

We can tell that the Japanese speaker is a woman here.


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## SoLaTiDoberman

I thought rather a man said it, although either gender might be possible.


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## gengo

SoLaTiDoberman said:


> I thought rather a man said it, although either gender might be possible.


Interesting.  I would never end a sentence with *花よ*.  It sounds feminine to me.


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## Shilon

gengo said:


> It's a set expression, and translates to "That is better left unsaid."
> O algo como _Mejor no hablar de ciertas cosas_.
> 
> We can tell that the Japanese speaker is a woman here.


Correct. The speaker is a woman.


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## Di Phi Sig

SoLaTiDoberman said:


> I thought rather a man said it, although either gender might be possible.



私もまず頭に浮かんだのは男性のイメージでした。


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## Katzuhiko Minohara

I also thought it is a man who says it.

Not because the phrase ended in ～よ
which I understand the point of Gengo and Shilon
to say it is a feminine ending, but that is relative 

the part which gave away is the use of the verb to say 言う
has the ending *～ぬ*　　言わ*ぬ* 
which is a male ending and when I first read it
I imagined a male villain dialogue

*「それは言わぬが花よ。」*


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## Flaminius

Katzuhiko Minohara said:


> which I understand the point of Gengo and Shilon
> to say it is a feminine ending, but that is relative


This is the problem in written language.  The accent pattern is different for the feminine marker from that for other usages.  The former lacks the accent nucleus that other usages should have.  Contrast 花よ in 言わぬが花よ uttered in feminine and masculine speeches: The feminine pattern is HHH, and the masculine pattern is HHL.  The former may additionally get the よ elongated into two H's.




Katzuhiko Minohara said:


> has the ending *～ぬ*　　言わ*ぬ*
> which is a male ending


Like the above paragraph, it is a complicated matter and I shan't discuss it in details.  The short answer is, however, "No."  You can rest assured that 言わぬが花 is a proverb, and everyone quote it as it is regardless of their gender.


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## gengo

Katzuhiko Minohara said:


> the part which gave away is the use of the verb to say 言う
> has the ending *～ぬ*　　言わ*ぬ*
> which is a male ending


Sorry, but I don't believe that is correct.  Rather, it is an archaic ending form.  It has no gender connection.

As for me, I will continue to say 言わぬが花, without the final よ.


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