Where does “ただで済む” come from?
ただで済む (Japanese) comes from Japanese で, from Japanese ぜ, from Japanese ぞえ, from Japanese え, from Middle Chinese 衣.
ただで済む (Japanese): to get away without consequences, to get off scot-free
Definitions
- to get away without consequences, to get off scot-free
Ancestry of “ただで済む”, step by step
ただで済む traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Japanese で
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japanese | で | at; with, by, using; indicating the following... |
| 2 | Japanese | ぜ | sentence-ending particle signifying emphasis,... |
| 3 | Japanese | ぞえ | sentence-ending particle signifying emphasis, used to lightly press one's point, with affectionate overtones |
| 4 | Japanese | え | Alternative form of い |
| 5 | Middle Chinese | 衣 | — |
via Old Japanese 済む
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old Japanese | 済む | to settle, finish |
via Japanese ただ
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japanese | ただ | ordinary, common, nothing special |