木村：最近、鈴木君遅刻ばかりですね。私の方から言っておきましょうか。
課長：あまり波をたてない方がいいよ。仕事もうまくいっているしね。
Nami wo tateru
Kimura: Saikin, Suzuki-kun chikoku bakari desu ne. Watashi no hoo kara itte okimashoo ka.
Kachoo: Amari nami wo tatenai hoo ga ii yo. Shigoto mo umaku itte iru shi ne.
Kimura: Suzuki is always late for work these days. Do you want me to say something to him?
Section Chief: We don't want to start any trouble. He's get- tine on with his work well enough.
Nami wo tateru means to cause problems unnecessarily, or stir up trouble when things are going well. Tatsu is the intransitive verb form, teru is the transitive form. In Japanese there are all kinds of expressions based on wave imagery. Let's look at some of them here.
The Japanese are not very good at discussing things at meetings. Instead of speaking out directly during the meeting, they prearrange the outcome by discussing everything beforehand. Ningen-kankei ni amari nami wo tatetakunai kara desu. (This is because they don't want to cause trouble between people.)
In thiscase, it is as if, underthe influence of a low pressure system, waves are building up on a calm sea. Nami wo tateru can be used like this, in its transitive form, or in its intransitive form, as in this example: Kimiga amari hatsugen sum to, bunai ni nami ga tatsu no de, sukoshi hatsugen wo hikaete kudasai. (If you say too much, you'll cause trouble in the department, so try and keep your
opinions to yourself.)
One feature of waves is that they are constantly changing. This aspect of waves is apparent in the following expressions: Kare no seiseki ni wa namiga atte, dono seisekiga jitsuryoku ka wakarinikui. (His grades are so inconsistent, it's
hard to know what he's really capable of.);Jinsei ni wa nami ga aru. (Life has its ups and downs.)
Wesayweareonthecrestofa wave when life is good; when we're in a trough between waves, we feel low. That is the way life is. 1 feel admiration for older people, however, when I hear them look back on their lives and say./zwse/ no aranami ni taete koko made kimashita. (I've crossed some stormy waters in my time.)
In surfing, the skill is in climbing and riding waves. In Japanese there is
a similar expression, used when things are going well for someone, Kare, kono goro nami ni notte imasu ne. (He's on good form lately, isn't he?) Wave imagery appears also in expressions such as the following: Kono kaisha wa keizai-seichoo no nami ni notte, daigaisha ni nattan desu yo.
(This business grew into a major company on the crest of Japan's wave of economic growth.) However, the world is going through a wave of depression at the moment. We'll just have to wait for the next wave to come.