nonojinome 「の」の字の目

In Japanese, nonojinome のの字の目 is a way to describe someone looking to the side, with their iris at the corner of the eye, perhaps averting their eyes from something or someone.

Literally, we're talking about "no" no ji no me 「の」の字の目, meaning "no の character eyes," because when someone looks to the side their eyes look like the no の hiragana character.

Character: Shinonome Nano 東雲なの
Anime: Nichijou 日常 (Episode 7)

• Meaning
• Examples
• References

Meaning

In the phrase "no" no me 「の」の目, the first no の is literally the character surrounded by 「quotation marks」, while the second is the no の particle. The word me 目 means "eye."

All the phrases below mean the same thing:

• nonome
  のの目
• nonojime
  のの字目
• nonojinome
  のの字の目

From the shape of the no の character, this phrase would only make sense if the person is looking to the right side. If they're looking to the left side, to the opposite side, to the "reverse," gyaku 逆, side, and you were to be literal:

• gyaku "no" no ji no me
  逆「の」の字の目
  Reverse no の character eyes.

Examples

For reference, some notable examples eyes drawn like the no の character:

Character: Moegi Emo 萌黄えも
Anime: Kiratto Pri☆chan, キラッとプリ☆チャン (Season 2) (Episode 20)

• henohenomoheji
  へのへのもへじ
  (this face.)

Character: Peko-chan ペコちゃん
Source: 7粒ミルキー - fujiya-peko.co.jp, accessed 2020-03-10

• Peko-jita
  ペコ舌
  (this face.)

Left: Hirasawa Yui 平沢唯
Right: Yamanaka Sawako 山中さわ子
Anime: K-On!, Keion! けいおん！ (Episode 5)

• tehe pero
  てへぺろ
  (this pose.)

References

• のの目 - tonbi.jp, accessed 2020-04-28.
• 「の」の字目、丸重ね目 - koharu2009.blogspot.com, accessed 2020-02-17.