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人に胸を張る

lanthas

 
27 Apr 2014
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As I understand it, ...に胸を張る means "to be proud of something", e.g. 仕事に胸を張る. I'd expect this to carry over to people as well, but I recently encountered some dialogue in a game where this interpretation doesn't seem to fit.

洋輔: 「俺、莉々子さんには胸を張ってたい。だから、胸張っていられるように、がんばるよ。」
莉々子: 「洋輔。その言葉が一番、私にとっては誇らしい。私も、君にだけは胸を張っていたい。しかしそれをさせてくれるのは、結局君という存在なのだ。」

It doesn't make sense for Yousuke to say, "I'll work hard so that I can be proud of you". What would make sense, however, is "I'll work hard so that I can (show the results of my efforts) to you with pride" - thereby implying "so that you can be proud of me". Is this a valid interpretation?

Ririko's line is giving me similar doubts. Is it, "I also want to be proud of you, but in the end, the one who'll make me so is you"? Or is it, "I also want to (show my work) to you with pride, but the one who's motivating me (to do that work and gain that pride) is you"? Context isn't really helping in this case - both are possible.
 
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に can also indicate the target the subject shows their pride to in the first place, not only what they are proud of. Or rather, I don't think 人に胸を張る can be used to express "to be proud of people". Other expressions such like 人を誇りに思う would be used for this case.
 
I see - good to know it can't carry both meanings. That clears things up, thank you.
 
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