What does 〜うちが花 mean?


And why the flower in the sentence?




As far as I know it usually follows sentences like 待つうちが花 － 言われるうちが花 etc that
are some common sayings although hard to directly translate in English. The
first one expressing the feeling of enjoying to the fullest the moment while
you are waiting for something to happen making expectations. In other words,
that there is good in that time you spend waiting speculating about how
something will go.

[Here](http://kotowaza.jitenon.jp/kotowaza/1684.php) it says:

> 物事は期待しながら待っている間が、心ときめいて楽しいということ。「待つが花」「待つ間が花」ともいう。

In this case my guess is that 花 is there as an example of something beautiful
or pleasant. If you look at the meaning above this somehow makes sense. I
think I even read that this is the case somewhere actually but cannot find it
now.

[Here](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1375029498)
are some other proverbs/sayings ending in うちが花 although the question is a bit
different (won't reference them directly as maybe it's not the point).
According to that source it seems that most of these derive from 言わぬが花， that
could be translated as "Some things are best left unsaid" or "Silence is
golden".

Also looking at this it seems that the flower could be a symbol of something
beautifl/pleasant as so is the result of not saying something. This is
actually a particularly interesting example as you could see the "flower" in
Japanese playing the role of "gold" in English.

In general it's an interesting question, but if it is mostly used in proverbs
maybe it's hard to give a precise answer and would be better to think about it
as a whole thing carrying some meaning. It would be like asking "Why is
silence gold"? Because I guess gold is a precious and good thing, and so are
flowers.




As far as I know it usually follows sentences like 待つうちが花 － 言われるうちが花 etc that
are some common sayings although hard to directly translate in English. The
first one expressing the feeling of enjoying to the fullest the moment while
you are waiting for something to happen making expectations. In other words,
that there is good in that time you spend waiting speculating about how
something will go.

[Here](http://kotowaza.jitenon.jp/kotowaza/1684.php) it says:

> 物事は期待しながら待っている間が、心ときめいて楽しいということ。「待つが花」「待つ間が花」ともいう。

In this case my guess is that 花 is there as an example of something beautiful
or pleasant. If you look at the meaning above this somehow makes sense. I
think I even read that this is the case somewhere actually but cannot find it
now.

[Here](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1375029498)
are some other proverbs/sayings ending in うちが花 although the question is a bit
different (won't reference them directly as maybe it's not the point).
According to that source it seems that most of these derive from 言わぬが花， that
could be translated as "Some things are best left unsaid" or "Silence is
golden".

Also looking at this it seems that the flower could be a symbol of something
beautifl/pleasant as so is the result of not saying something. This is
actually a particularly interesting example as you could see the "flower" in
Japanese playing the role of "gold" in English.

In general it's an interesting question, but if it is mostly used in proverbs
maybe it's hard to give a precise answer and would be better to think about it
as a whole thing carrying some meaning. It would be like asking "Why is
silence gold"? Because I guess gold is a precious and good thing, and so are
flowers.

