Today’s word, 手を出す (te wo dasu), is essentially Japanese for “doing something you probably shouldn’t,” which, let’s face it, is pretty much everyone’s favorite hobby these days.
Take our first kanji, 手 (te, hand). A surprisingly straightforward pictogram—so straightforward, in fact, it looks like someone tried their best to doodle a claw and ended up with a wrist and five oddly spaced fingers. Clearly, ancient Japanese artists didn’t have Photoshop or any sense of proportion. But hey, credit where it’s due: at least you can tell it’s a hand. Sort of.
Next up is 出 (de, go out; emerge; appear—basically all the things introverts dread). This kanji is like a minimalist masterpiece: a foot stepping confidently outside a boundary line. Picture it as your foot bravely stepping outside your comfort zone, or just your usual stroll outside to immediately regret interacting with humanity. It’s a composite ideogram, which is fancy-speak for “a simple stick-figure foot crossing a line because ancient scribes weren’t paid enough for detail.”
Now let’s clarify 出す (dasu), the verb derived from 出 (de). 出す (dasu) literally means “to put out,” “to bring out,” or “to take out.” Put this together literally, and 手を出す (te wo dasu) means “to put out your hand.” Sounds harmless enough, right? Not when you’re reaching into all kinds of forbidden or ethically questionable places.
So how exactly does a badly drawn hand plus an over-simplified foot mean troublemaking? Excellent question. Combine the hand (symbolizing action or initiative) with the foot bravely stepping out (implying going into forbidden territory), and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Or, to be precise, our lovely term 手を出す (te wo dasu): putting your hands where they definitely don’t belong—stealing stuff, starting fights, investing in shady stocks, or flirting with your coworker who’s clearly out of your league.
Seriously though, how versatile is this phrase? Need to explain your questionable financial choices? 株に手を出す (kabu ni te wo dasu, dabbling in stocks). Got caught trying to snag that last piece of expensive sushi? ごちそうに手を出す (gochisou ni te wo dasu, helping yourself shamelessly). Started a bar fight because words are hard? 口より先に手を出す (kuchi yori saki ni te wo dasu, letting your fists do the talking). Or maybe you attempted some workplace romance, foolishly ignoring HR guidelines? 勤め先の女性に手を出す (tsutomesaki no josei ni te wo dasu, making moves on your colleague).
To sum up, 手を出す (te wo dasu) is the linguistic equivalent of humanity’s persistent habit of crossing lines we really shouldn’t, hands and feet first. You’d think we’d learn by now, but then again, where’s the fun in being sensible?
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