SOKKU-RI そっくり
Meanings
1. Describes two people, things, appearances, behaviors, or contents being extremely similar.
2. Describes leaving or transferring something wholly unchanged: all of it, exactly as it is.
Examples
1. My father and I look alike not only in our faces but even in our mannerisms.
父と私は顔も仕草もそっくりだ。
2. You say I’m inconsiderate? I’ll return those exact words right back to you.
「気がきかない」と言うけれど、その言葉、そっくりそのままお返しするわ。
Dogmatic Opinion
SOKKU-RI is not limited to physical appearance. The content, behavior, voice, mannerisms, or other characteristics of two things can also be strikingly alike.
Japanese also has the playful reversed-syllable slang KURISOTSU, made by rearranging SOKKURI. It is deliberately silly and dated-sounding.
There is also the separate expression SOKKU-RI SONOMAMA, meaning “the whole thing exactly as it is.” In that use, the focus is not resemblance but completeness and lack of alteration.
Proximate Expression
look exactly the same
like two peas in a pod
Related Words
For Japanese Learners
For resemblance, look exactly like, be just like, closely resemble, and be the spitting image of are useful. “父にそっくり” can be “He’s the spitting image of his father.” For SOKKU-RI SONOMAMA, use exactly as it is, unchanged, word for word, or the whole thing depending on context. Keep the two senses separate.
