Does the 目 mean 'eye' in this case? What does Au mean in this case? The pain
and the 目 coming together to experience the hurt?

Is this a one-off sentence or can I use other variations like 苦しい目にあう (only
negative ones?) or 楽しい目にあう?
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2017-09-28T03:53:21.947
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2017-09-28T04:29:52.313
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question
translation meaning proverbs
痛い目にあう Is this literally meant to mean "You're gonna get a hurt/black eye?
「目{め}」 has far more meanings than J-learners tend to think. A decent
dictionary would give over ten.

> Does the 目 mean 'eye' in this case?

No, it does not. 「目」 here means " ** _experience_** ", so 「痛{いた}い目」 means a "
** _bitter experience_** ".

> What does Au mean in this case?

「あう」 used in this expression means " ** _to encounter_** ", " ** _to go
through_** ", etc.

So, "to get a black eye" is not what this expression means at all. That is
unless getting a black eye was **_coincidentally_** the end result from your
bad experience.

> Is this a one-off sentence?

No, it is not.

「苦{くる}しい目にあう」 is just perfect.

「楽{たの}しい目にあう」 would be less common but still okay.

The adjectives that are used often in 「～～目にあう」 are:

ひどい、散々{さんざん}な、危険{きけん}な、つらい、悲惨{ひさん}な, etc.

It would mostly be a word with a negative meaning. I think it is safe to say
that 「痛{いた}い」 would be the most common adjective.

The expression that I personally would suggest that J-learners learn would be
「 **いい目を見{み}る** 」, which means " ** _to be fortunate/lucky_** ". I say this
because I almost never see a J-learner use that expression.
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2017-09-28T04:20:37.557
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2017-09-28T04:29:52.313
2017-09-28T04:29:52.313
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answer