蜥蜴の尻尾切り

Japanese

Kanji in this term
蜥	蜴	尻	尾	切
とかげ		しっぽ		き Grade: 2
Hyōgai	Hyōgai	Grade: S	Grade: S
irregular		irregular		kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
トカゲの尻尾切り トカゲのしっぽ切り 蜥蝪の尻尾切り

Etymology

Literally "cutting lizard's tail", 蜥蜴(トカゲ) (tokage, “lizard”) + の (no, possessive particle) + 尻尾(しっぽ) (shippo, “tail”) + 切(き)り (kiri, “cut”). In the alternative pronunciation, きり becomes ぎり due to rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [to̞ka̠ɡe̞ no̞ ɕip̚po̞ kʲiɾʲi]

• IPA^(key): [to̞ka̠ɡe̞ no̞ ɕip̚po̞ ɡʲiɾʲi]

Noun

蜥蜴(とかげ)の尻尾(しっぽ)切(き)り or 蜥蜴(とかげ)の尻尾切(しっぽぎ)り • (tokage no shippo kiri or tokage no shippo giri) 

1. (literally) the behavior of some lizards to drop their tail in order to escape a predator
2. (idiomatic) passing the buck to a subordinate; making a underling carry the can
   • 2014, Yasuo Takeuchi, ‘Nihonjin rashisa’ to nani ka [What is ‘Japanese-seeming’?], page 21:

     組(そ)織(しき)のトップは、組(そ)織(しき)を防(ぼう)衛(えい)するために辞(じ)任(にん)することが多(おお)い。 […] 「トカゲの尻尾(しっぽ)切(ぎ)り」ではなく、「トカゲの頭(あたま)切(き)り」「首(くび)のすげ替(か)え」によって組(そ)織(しき)防(ぼう)衛(えい)である。

     Soshiki no toppu wa, soshiki o bōei suru tame ni jinin suru koto ga ōi. […] “Tokage no shippo giri” de wa naku, “tokage no atama kiri” “kubi no sugekae” ni yotte soshiki bōei dearu.

     Often the head of an organization will resign to protect the organization. […] Rather than “cutting the lizard’s tail”, this is defending the organization by “cutting the lizard’s head”, “swapping necks”.

   • 2015, Satoshi Tomisaka, Xi Jinping no tatakai: Chūgoku Kyōsantō no tenkanki [Xi Jinping’s fight: Turning point for the Communist Party of China], page 13:

     こうした取(と)り締(し)まりによって黒(くろ)幕(まく)ともいえる大(おお)物(もの)官(かん)僚(りょう)が捕(つか)まることはなく、たいていはトカゲのしっぽ切(ぎ)りで終(お)わっていた。

     Kō shita torishimari ni yotte kuromaku to mo ieru ōmono kanryō ga tsukamaru koto wa naku, taitei wa tokage no shippo giri de owatte-ita.

     In this type of crackdown, major bureaucrats who can be called fixers are never caught; someone usually ends up carrying the can.

References

• Martin Collick, David P. Dutcher, Souichi Tanabe, and Minori Kaneko (2004) Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary 5th edition, Tokyo: Kenkyūsha.