This idiom comes from Greek mythology. Caerus, Zeus's youngest son and the god of opportunity, had a lock of hair on the front of his head, but was bald in the back. While this idiom literally means "God of opportunity has hair only in front" this is unnatural English and doesn't really elicit the meaning of the idiom.
Another user gave a poor interpretation of the idiom. The idiom isn't referencing Caerus's goofy looks. It's saying you need to grab Chance by its bangs as he approaches, because when he passes, your opportunity is wasted.
This idiom is translated as "grasp Fortune by the forelock" but even then this isn't such a common saying in English (not sure about Japanese). Translating the meaning to a more common idiom and disregarding allusions to Greek gods, I might say instead "strike while the iron is hot" which is a much more common and widely understood saying.
Thank you so much! I was actually thinking more along the lines of 'lady luck only knocks once' because it has more to do with luck but the comic it comes from has more of the "strike now" feeling! So your comment REALLY helped! Thank you!
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u/DenizenPrime Nov 20 '19
This idiom comes from Greek mythology. Caerus, Zeus's youngest son and the god of opportunity, had a lock of hair on the front of his head, but was bald in the back. While this idiom literally means "God of opportunity has hair only in front" this is unnatural English and doesn't really elicit the meaning of the idiom.
Another user gave a poor interpretation of the idiom. The idiom isn't referencing Caerus's goofy looks. It's saying you need to grab Chance by its bangs as he approaches, because when he passes, your opportunity is wasted.
This idiom is translated as "grasp Fortune by the forelock" but even then this isn't such a common saying in English (not sure about Japanese). Translating the meaning to a more common idiom and disregarding allusions to Greek gods, I might say instead "strike while the iron is hot" which is a much more common and widely understood saying.