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Word 1977 of 4449

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匙を投げる

さじをなげる

to give up (as hopeless)

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. 医者も匙を投げた。

    いしゃもさじをなげた。

    Even the doctors gave up.

  2. 難しすぎて匙を投げた。

    むずかしすぎてさじをなげた。

    It was too hard, so I threw in the towel.

  3. 先生も彼の態度には匙を投げている。

    せんせいもかれのたいどにはさじをなげている。

    Even the teacher has given up on his attitude.

  4. 何度も直そうとしたが、ついに匙を投げるしかなかった。

    なんどもなおそうとしたが、ついにさじをなげるしかなかった。

    I tried to fix it again and again, but in the end I had to give it up as hopeless.

Common patterns

医者が匙を投げる
for a doctor to give a patient up
〜に匙を投げる
to give up on ~
ついに匙を投げる
to finally throw in the towel

Memory tip

The 匙 is the spoon an old-style doctor mixed medicine with: throwing it down means there is no prescription left to try. It carries that verdict of hopelessness, so it is stronger than plain あきらめる, which can be about simply changing your mind.

Kanji in this word

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What does 匙を投げる mean?