先回り... what is its practical use?

[ShakeYourRump]

先回り

What does it really mean and when would you use it? Any examples? The wanikani explanation is… lacking.

I take lessons with a Japanese tutor, but even she wasn’t able to explain this one to my satisfaction.

[Brave-foot]

I remember reading somewhere (that for the life of me I cannot remember… It could have been a manga, maybe a novel…). It said something like:

先回らない方がいい

In that particular context, I think it meant something along the lines of, “it’s best not to get ahead of yourself” (though I had to ask a japanese friend to tell me that).

I haven’t really encountered it elsewhere (that I can recall)

[WeebPotato]

@Brave-foot

先回らない方がいい

In that particular context, I think it meant something along the lines of, “it’s best not to get ahead of yourself” (though I had to ask a japanese friend to tell me that).

Yup, that’s the literal translation and that’s what it means . I found something similar here: https://wotopi.jp/archives/93804
無駄に先回りしないで…！「気を使う人」と「気が利く人」の違い
Don’t make waste by getting ahead of yourself! The difference between a cautious person and a sensible one.

But I’ve seen it used in context where it literally meant arriving ahead, before everyone else.

As a side note, you can also solicit the help of others via this thread: The quick or short Language Questions Thread (not grammar)

Me and many others track it so you might get an answer there faster .

[Brave-foot]

@AndyMender

Yup, that’s the literal translation and that’s what it means

@AndyMender

But I’ve seen it used in context where it literally meant arriving ahead, before everyone else.

Yeah, when I first learned it in WK, I thought it only meant literally to arrive ahead of someone physically

[WeebPotato]

@Brave-foot

Yeah, when I first learned it in WK, I thought it only meant literally to arrive ahead of someone physically

Japanese is actually amazing in this sense, because it takes a lot of those very literal expressions to a metaphorical level and they still hold. Very meta!

[TheCodingFox]

Interesting, I seem to remember they used to have “anticipation” as the primary meaning. Now it seems to be “arriving ahead.”
The word “anticipation” makes more sense when you’re not talking about physically arriving ahead.

[stevendunn]

The meaning for this was “anticipation,” and at the time I learned it didn’t understand it nor have any idea how to use it in a sentence. Some of the vocab beg for more detailed grammar explanations, and this was one of them. I still don’t know how to use it.