母「この間のお見合いの返事どうするの」
娘「それがまだ決心がつかないの」
母「相手の方、きっとしびれをきらしていらっしゃるわよ」
Shibire wo Kirasu
Haha: Kono aida no omiai no henji doo suru no?
Musume: Sore ga mada kesshin ga tsukanai no.
Haha: Aite no kata, kitto shibire wo kirashite irassharu wa yo.
Mother: What do you plan to tell that boy you met the other day?
Daughter: That's just it; I haven't been able to make up my mind.
Mother: I bet he's growing impatient.
* * *
Have you ever had to patiently endure sitting on your legs in a tatami mat room? Ju-ppun mo suwaru to shibire ga kiremasen ka (Don't your feet go to sleep after about ten minutes?) Well, it happens to Japanese too. We just don't spend much time sitting like that anymore; our legs go right to sleep (sugu ni shibire ga kirete shimaimasu). Shibire ga kireru thus refers to not being able to move about freely because a part of one's body has "gone to sleep." Ashi ga shibireru (to have one's leg go to sleep); te ga shibireru (to have one's arm go to sleep).
The meaning of shibire wo kirasu is a bit different. It refers to not being able to wait any longer, to losing one's patience. Let's look at the conversation.
At her mother's suggestion, a daughter has had a meeting with a prospective husband but is unsure whether to start dating him. Years ago people would decide to get married after just one meeting. Though this rarely happens today, it's still not polite to start dating someone and then later decide not to get mar- ried. A month has passed since the boy asked the girl to start dating. She knows aite ga shibire wo kirashiteiru (he's growing impatient) and if I were her mother I'd tell her, "If you can't make up your mind, perhaps you should give it up."
Another situation. It's raining and a girl is waiting for her boyfriend in front of Shinjuku Station. They were to meet at 6 but at 6:40 there's still no sign of him. She's just about to head back home when one of her girlfriends appears. "Let's have dinner together.
Boyfriend nanka shibire wo kirashite matteiru yori, oishii mono tabe ni ikirnasho yo" ("Instead of losing your cool waiting for your boyfriend here, let's go and eat some good food"). The girl has no intention of waiting any longer and so heads off with her friend. The next day she gets a phone call from her boyfriend. "Thanks a lot! Since it was raining, I thought I'd be nice and bring my car but got caught in traffic about a kilometer from the station. Kimi ga shibire wo kirashite matteiru to omotta kedo (I knew you were getting impatient waiting but), there was nothing I could do. Couldn't you have waited longer?" Though she is usually pretty patient, 30 minutes is about her limit when it comes to waiting in front of a station on a rainy day. If she'd been in a comfortable tea room and able to read a book ichijikan demo nijikan demo shibire wo kirasanaide matte ageta noni (she'd have waited one or two hours without getting impatient at all).
I'm presently waiting for an official invitation from a certain institution in England. This is because national universities require their professors to show an official invitation before allowing them to go overseas during the summer. Possessing proper airline tickets, a passport, and two months vacation are not enough! Watashi wa shibire wo kirashite mat- teimasu (My patience is wearing thin with the waiting ).