元も子もない

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Japanese

[edit]
Kanji in this term
もと
Grade: 2

Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Etymology

[edit]

Literally "to have neither principal (元金) nor interest (利子).".

Pronunciation

[edit]
  • IPA(key): [mo̞to̞ mo̞ ko̞ mo̞ na̠i]

Adjective

[edit]

(もと)()もない (moto mo ko mo nai-i (adverbial (もと)()もなく (moto mo ko mo naku))

  1. causing further loss when already failing to bring any benefit; backfiring

Inflection

[edit]