Why Students Believed This Bus Could Bring Good Luck
rub off on someone: to have someone’s qualities, behavior, or feelings influence another person
Thirty years ago, a bus and its driver narrowly survived a deadly earthquake in Japan. Yasu Yoshimasa, was driving when the ground began shaking violently. His bus stopped just before falling off an elevated highway that collapsed in front of him. After helping passengers escape, he took a photo of the bus in a terrifying position. The front wheels hung dangerously over the edge of the broken highway, looking like it could fall at any moment.
In Japanese, the words “fall” and “fail” have the same meaning. For years after the disaster, students who wanted to pass their exams would ride Yasu’s bus, hoping his good luck would rub off on them.
For many years it was a tradition for local students sitting exams to make sure to ride this bus or a bus driven by this driver, who famously did not fall (in Japanese fall/fail can be the same word). Everyone remembers seeing this bus on a collapsed highway after the big… https://t.co/ETceFMbATL
— Wrath Of Gnon (@wrathofgnon) January 17, 2025
Sample sentences
Anna is so positive all the time that her energy has started to rub off on her coworkers.
Sarah’s love of reading rubbed off on her little brother, and now he enjoys books too.
The teacher’s passion for science rubbed off on her students, and many of them became scientists.
Origin
The expression “rub off on someone” comes from the idea of something being transferred by touch, like paint or dirt rubbing off one object onto another. Over time, it has been used to describe how people’s traits or emotions can transfer to others through close interaction or association.
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Coach driver reflects on quake 30 years on?NHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS