Tweet of the Week #166: You Can Only Trust Bodybuilders

We know it’s bad for us, but we’re often tempted to compare ourselves to others. Should we trust those impressions, though? Are the longed-for attributes we see in others actually curses?

This hilarious illustration introduces a series of types of people we might be envious of and what they say when complimented on those positive traits or good genetics. The illustrator feels that only bodybuilders will actually tell you the truth.

Eye of the beholder

もうマッチョしか信じられない pic.twitter.com/ubbrZyqYzQ

— 伊藤 誠 (@nenesamagatizei) February 5, 2022

1. The macho man

• もうマッチョしか信（しん）じられない
• “I can only trust macho now”

2.  The smart guy

• 頭（あたま）がいい人（ひと） = 頭（あたま）が良（よ）くってもいいことないよ
• Smart person: being smart isn’t everything.

3. The beauty

• 美人（びじん） = 可愛（かわい）くってもいいことないよ
• Beauty: being pretty doesn’t do you any good.

4. The gamer

• 音（おと）ゲーマー = 音（おと）ゲー（）上手（うま）くてもいいことないよ
• Sound gamer: being a skilled sound gamer isn’t everything.

5. The one with a lot of followers

• Twitterで万（まん）垢（あか）持（も）っている人（ひと） = フォロワー多（おお）くてもいいことないよ
• Person with thousands of accounts on Twitter: it’s not always good to have a lot of followers.

6. The rich person

• お金持（かねも）ち = お金持（かねも）ちでもいいことないよ
• Rich person: being rich isn’t everything

7. The popular one

• モテる人（ひと） = モテてもいいことないよ
• Popular person: being popular isn’t everything.

8. The annoying muscles guy

• マッチョ = 筋（きん）トレはいいぞ
• Muscle guy: muscle training is great!

Life is not a bed of roses

The Japanese いいこと (a good thing) ない (negative) with the sentence-ending particle よ helps temper a perspective or bring a new outlook on something or a situation.

In English, it roughly translates to “it isn’t worth it,” or “it isn’t everything,” or “nothing good comes out of…”

Like in the Japanese proverb 人生（じんせい）はいいことずくめじゃないよ, which translates to “life is not a bed of roses,” or simply put, life isn’t always fun. There is also the expression 欲張（よくば）ってもいいことないよ, or “nothing good comes out of being greedy.”

Vocabulary

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