難しい
muzukashii
Why 'that's difficult' means 'no' in Japanese
The picture You turn the handle and it catches — the door won't open, and your hand stays there a long while. 難しい is a hand that catches and stalls; 易しい is a hand that slides straight through.
Where the picture shows up in 難しい
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hard to read
この漢字は難しいです。
kono kanji wa muzukashii desu
This kanji is difficult.
A finger stopped in midair in front of a character dense with strokes
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hard to do
今日中に終わるのは難しいです。
kyō-jū ni owaru no wa muzukashii desu
Finishing it today will be difficult.
Eyes going between the clock and the stack still left, then a tilted head
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hard to deal with
部長は難しい人です。
buchō wa muzukashii hito desu
The department head is a difficult man.
Standing at his door holding the approval file, taking one steadying breath
難しい人 is not a person in difficulty — it's a person who is hard to handle.
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a grim face
難しい顔をしていますね。
muzukashii kao o shi-te i-masu ne
You're looking very serious.
A face with the brow creased and the lips pressed into one line
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a polite no
値引きは難しいです。
nebiki wa muzukashii desu
A discount would be difficult.
Fingers tap the calculator, then lift away as the head tilts
In Japanese, 難しいです is the standard soft way of saying it can't be done.
All of it in one picture
難しい is one picture: a hand catching and going no further. Catch on a character and you can't read it; catch on a schedule and it won't be done today; catch on a person and they're hard to keep happy. Catch on a face and the brow won't unknit — and catch on a price, and 'that's difficult' is the whole refusal.