弘法にも筆の誤り

Etymology

Phrase consisting of 弘法 (Kōbō), the first part of the posthumous name of Kūkai, an important Buddhist monk and one of three famous Heian period calligraphers + に (ni, “in”, locative particle) も (mo, “even”, inclusive particle) + 筆 (fude, “writing brush”) + の (no, genitive or possessive particle) + 誤り (ayamari, “mistake”, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 誤る ayamaru, “to make a mistake”): “even Kūkai makes mistakes.”

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ko̞ːbo̞ː ɲ̟i mo̞ ɸɯ̟ᵝde̞ no̞ a̠ja̠ma̠ɾʲi]

Proverb

弘法にも筆の誤り (hiragana こうぼうにもふでのあやまり, rōmaji Kōbō ni mo fude no ayamari)

1. even Homer sometimes nods → even the experts make mistakes