He shrugged his shoulders.
Is the translation correct?
Because if I try to translate literally, I get " He lined up his shoulders", and I found 肩を並べる is an expression that means “to walk shoulder to shoulder” or “to be on par with”.
@mike-lima
Good catch! The original sentence pair doesn’t match each other.
肩を並べる is most likely to be interpreted as “on par with” in this context. For example, Tom and Jack played a tight game at the US Open Golf.
You can also say トムはジャックと比肩する (ひけんする) ゴルフの腕前だ. 比肩する is a more formal expression and you can often find it in a biography.
The original Japanese sentence can also illustrate that Tom and Jack are walking together as best friends. Their shoulders are just physically close to one another. If the two persons are an intimate couple, we don’t say 肩を並べる but 肩を寄せ合う.
”He shrugged his shoulders” should be:
彼は肩をすくめた。or
彼は首をすぼめた。
This gesture means either he was intimidated, frightened or surprised in Japan.
We don’t shrug our shoulders when we have no idea how to respond. In this context, we say 彼は首を傾げた (くびをかしげた) instead.