お手上げ

Japanese

Kanji in this term
手	上
て Grade: 1	あ(げ) Grade: 1

Alternative forms

• 御手上, 御手上げ

Etymology

Compound of 御 (o, honorific prefix) +‎ 手 (te, “hand, hands”) +‎ 上げ (age, “raising”, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 上げる ageru “to raise something”).

Noun

お手上(てあ)げ • (oteage) 

1. throwing up one's hands: giving up, quitting

   こんなに遅(おそ)くてはもうお手上(てあ)げだ。

   Konna ni osokute wa mō oteage da.

   Running this late, it's to the point where we're just giving up.

Usage notes

This term is used as a noun in Japanese. Note that recombining the constituent parts of this phrase to produce the verb phrase 手を上げる (te o ageru) can produce a different meaning, depending on context: “to raise one's hand [against someone, as if to strike]”.

Synonyms

• 匙(さじ)を投(な)げる (saji o nageru)

Related terms

• 手(て)を上(あ)げる (te o ageru)