糠(ぬか)に釘(くぎ)

ぬかにくぎ
expression
futile effort; like talking to a wall
proverb
1. futile effort; pointless action; like talking to a wall; having no effect
An idiomatic expression meaning that one's efforts or words have no effect whatsoever, like trying to drive a nail into rice bran — it goes in but has no hold.
何(なに)を言(い)っても糠(ぬか)に釘(くぎ)だ。
No matter what I say, it has no effect.
注意(ちゅうい)しても糠(ぬか)に釘(くぎ)で、全然(ぜんぜん)直(なお)らない。
Even when I warn him, it has no effect and he doesn't change at all.
あの人(ひと)に意見(いけん)するのは糠(ぬか)に釘(くぎ)だから、もう諦(あきら)めた。
Giving that person advice is like talking to a wall, so I've given up.

A well-known Japanese proverb describing a situation where one's actions or words are completely ineffective. The image is of hammering a nail into rice bran — the nail enters easily but has no grip, making the effort pointless.

Common patterns

  • ～ても糠(ぬか)に釘(くぎ)だ: even if you do X, it has no effect
  • 糠(ぬか)に釘(くぎ)の状態(じょうたい): a state of having no effect

Similar words

Etymology

糠(ぬか) (rice bran) is soft and powdery. A 釘(くぎ) (nail) driven into it would have no hold at all, making the effort entirely pointless.

Related Words

Compare: 暖簾(のれん)に腕押(うでお)し (pushing against a curtain)
Compare: 馬(うま)の耳(みみ)に念仏(ねんぶつ) (chanting sutras to a horse's ears)
Compare: 馬耳東風(ばじとうふう) (in one ear and out the other)
general
Added 2026.4.8 5:17 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02
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