Japanese

Alternative forms

• 御手上, 御手上げ

Noun

お手上げ ‎(hiragana おてあげ, romaji 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]”.

Related terms

• 手 (て)を上 (あ)げる ‎(te o ageru)

Synonyms

• 匙 (さじ)を投 (な)げる ‎(saji o nageru)

References

1. ↑ 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9