快刀乱麻を断つ

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Japanese[edit]

Kanji in this term
かい
Grade: 5
とう
Grade: 2
らん
Grade: 6

Grade: S

Grade: 5
kan’on kan’yōon kun’yomi
Alternative spelling
快刀亂麻を斷つ (kyūjitai)

Etymology[edit]

快刀 (kaitō, sharp katana) +‎ 乱麻 (ranma, tangled skein; chaos) +‎ (o, object particle) +‎ 断つ (tatsu, to cut); calque of Chinese 快刀斬亂麻快刀斩乱麻 (kuàidāo zhǎn luànmá).

Verb[edit]

(かい)(とう)(らん)()() (kaitō ranma o tatsuくわいたうらんまをたつ (kwaitauranmawotatu)?godan (stem (かい)(とう)(らん)()() (kaitō ranma o tachi), past (かい)(とう)(らん)()()った (kaitō ranma o tatta))

  1. (idiomatic) to cut the Gordian knot

Conjugation[edit]