Why does 皮肉 mean "irony"?


I gather that 皮肉 can literally mean "skin-meat." I also see that one
definition for 皮 is "mask (hiding one's true nature); seeming." So perhaps 皮肉
can be understood as "hiding the real meat," which can be related to irony.
What is the real answer?




snailplane's link says, it comes from 皮肉骨髄 "skin meat bones marrow" attributed
to the Bodhidharma of Chinese Zen Buddhism. Bones and marrow came to take on
the meaning of essential, skin and meat became synonymous with superficial.
From there, 皮肉 was also used as a word for criticizing faults/defects (which
stems from not recognizing the true nature of sth.), which seems to be its
primary current usage, e.g. the JDIC dictionary entry for the derived
[皮肉]{ひにく}る says:

> 皮肉る  
>  to speak cynically or with sarcasm

Although 皮肉 is sometimes best translated to irony, as in the fixed expression
皮肉なことに, e.g.

> バイトを辞めたんだけど、皮肉なことに、年中他の仕事でずっと忙しかった。  
>  I quit my part-time job, but ironically was busy with other work all year.

I think 皮肉 works best for cynicism/sarcasm or dark/pessimistic irony, rather
than the lighthearted variety of irony.




snailplane's link says, it comes from 皮肉骨髄 "skin meat bones marrow" attributed
to the Bodhidharma of Chinese Zen Buddhism. Bones and marrow came to take on
the meaning of essential, skin and meat became synonymous with superficial.
From there, 皮肉 was also used as a word for criticizing faults/defects (which
stems from not recognizing the true nature of sth.), which seems to be its
primary current usage, e.g. the JDIC dictionary entry for the derived
[皮肉]{ひにく}る says:

> 皮肉る  
>  to speak cynically or with sarcasm

Although 皮肉 is sometimes best translated to irony, as in the fixed expression
皮肉なことに, e.g.

> バイトを辞めたんだけど、皮肉なことに、年中他の仕事でずっと忙しかった。  
>  I quit my part-time job, but ironically was busy with other work all year.

I think 皮肉 works best for cynicism/sarcasm or dark/pessimistic irony, rather
than the lighthearted variety of irony.

