無理しないで
“Muri shinai de” “Don’t overdo it”
In what kind of situations do you usually hear this phrase?
Two immediately come to my mind:
1. Staff members often say “Please don’t overdo it” or “Please don’t overdo it by running for the train” over the microphone when everyone is rushing across the platform to board.
2. My kind-hearted coworkers often say to me “Don’t go overdoing it” when I have a cold, but keep working too hard (which just makes the cold worse).
The origin of the phrase, “無理する（Muri suru)”, “To overdo it” is “Even though you know something is impossible, you still try to do it”. Saying it like that makes it sound almost positive, like you’re challenging yourself, but “Overdoing it” doesn’t have that nuance. It’s for this reason that it’s quite hard for students to use that particular phrase well.
However, if you remember it as “無理しないで（Muri shinai de)”, “Don’t overdo it” I think it’ll become easier to understand and use.
Using the above two examples, we could use the following phrases in the place of “無理しないで（Muri shinai de)”, “Don’t overdo it”:
1. “危険なことをしないで（Kiken na koto o shinai de)”, “Don’t do anything dangerous”
2. “頑張りすぎないで（Ganbari sugi nai de)”, “Don’t keep forcing yourself”
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