運が向く un ga muku Fortune Smiles
運が向く (un ga muku), luck turns one's way, is Edo speech: the dictionary's first citation is an 1823 kabuki, サア運が向いて来たわえ, there, my luck has turned. English matches it idiom for idiom with fortune smiles, Georgian English at its height in 1804.
Abstract
運が向く, un ga muku, luck comes one's way, is an Edo idiom and a headword of the 日本国語大辞典, first cited from an 1823 kabuki. It runs through a rakugo transcript of 1891 and translations of Dumas and Lytton, and the bilingual dictionaries fixed its English in 1911 and 1918; the National Diet Library's full-text index has 運が向いて in 1,253 books.
Overview
The sense. Luck comes one's way; things turn for the better.
The words. 運が向く un ga muku is a headword of the 日本国語大辞典, 好運がやってくる。状況が良い方に向く, luck comes one's way [1]. 運 is luck, fortune; が marks it as the subject; 向く, to turn toward.
The text in English. Fortune smiles is Georgian English, highest in 1804 and a tenth of that by 1980; 斎藤和英 renders Fortune smiles on Japan's arms as 日本は武運めでたし [2].
The historical record
1823. 運が向く, in the speech of Edo. It is Edo speech. The 日本国語大辞典's first citation is an 1823 kabuki, サア運が向いて来たわえ, there, my luck has turned [1]; the index has 運の向く in 1883 [3], 運が向いて in an 1891 rakugo transcript [4] and in 1893 translations of Dumas and Lytton, and the bilingual dictionaries fixing the English: 井上十吉 in 1911, 運が向く, Luck is coming [5]; 武信 in 1918, one's fortune changes for the better [6]. 綺堂's Hanshichi says とんとん拍子に運が向いてきて [7]. In all, 1,253 books have 運が向いて.
A reading
A true match, idiom for idiom: luck turning one's way in the voice of a kabuki rogue on one side and a Regency novel on the other.
Notes
が marks the subject.
References
- 「運が向く」, 精選版日本国語大辞典, at kotobank. https://kotobank.jp/word/運が向く
- 斎藤秀三郎, 斎藤和英大辞典, at Weblio 英和・和英辞典. https://ejje.weblio.jp/sentence/content/"fortune smiles"
- 花笠文京, 自由新話, 1883, National Diet Library Digital Collections. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/886680
- 春錦亭柳桜, 女煙草, 1891, National Diet Library Digital Collections. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/891178
- 井上十吉, 新訳和英辞典, 1911, National Diet Library Digital Collections. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/870153
- 武信由太郎, 武信和英大辞典, 1918, National Diet Library Digital Collections. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/925665
- 岡本綺堂, 半七捕物帳, 津の国屋, at Wikisource. https://ja.wikisource.org/wiki/半七捕物帳_第一巻/津の国屋