天地無用
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Japanese
| Kanji in this term | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 天 | 地 | 無 | 用 |
| てん Grade: 1 |
ち Grade: 2 |
む Grade: 4 |
よう Grade: 2 |
| on'yomi | |||
Etymology
Short from 天地 (tenchi, “top and bottom”) + 入替 (irekae, “replace, swap”) + 無用 (muyō, “prohibited”), i.e. "swapping top and bottom is prohibited."
Pronunciation
Phrase
天地無用 • (tenchi muyō)
- (dated) Shipping terminology to indicate that a package must not be flipped: this way up, this side up
Usage notes
- This phrase is sometimes misinterpreted as "top and bottom do not matter", using the more readily comprehensible interpretation of 無用 as meaning "useless" but leading to the exact opposite intended meaning ("it is okay to flip this package"). In Japanese postal services this phrase has been largely replaced by more comprehensible ones like この面を上に (kono men o ue ni, “this side up”) and 逆さま厳禁 (sakasama genkin, “upside down prohibition”).