Why is 口が軽い the opposite of 口が堅い ? It seems interesting to me why 軽い／堅い would
be chosen for this phrase.

As far as I know, most of the time phrases that are coupled with 軽い usually
have the opposite meaning paired with 重い. I know one case where it is paired
with 激しい as in 軽く／激しく運動する.

What would be the reason as to why 口が重い might not be the appropriate choice to
use for the opposite phrase of 口が軽い?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-24T15:04:03.843
6260
2012-07-25T02:49:31.013
2012-07-24T16:36:02.297
1328
1328
question
word-choice
Why is 口が軽い the opposite of 口が堅い?
Well actually, `口が重い` is the opposite of `口が軽い` if the meaning is to be
talkative. From [here](http://www.geocities.jp/tomomi965/ko-
jien02/ka12.html#kuti2) (see definition 2)

> 口が軽い（くちがかるい）
> １．言ってはいけないことまで、軽率に喋（しゃべ）りがちである。秘密などを軽々しく話してしまいがちである。また、そういう性格である。 反：■口が堅い
> ２．良く喋る。多弁である。 反：■口が重い

The idea here is that `口が軽い` can mean **two** things, while `口が堅い` and `口が重い`
only have one meaning respectively. I am assuming that this is because a
talkative person can imply that they say "too much" (i.e. says things they
shouldn't say). However, a person who can keep a secret, may _not necessarily_
be untalkative. Therefore, it is natural for `口が軽い` to have two meanings,
while `口が堅い` and `口が重い` cannot do this.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-25T02:23:23.073
6267
2012-07-25T02:49:31.013
2012-07-25T02:49:31.013
1217
1217
6260
answer