Where does “匙を投げる” come from?

匙を投げる (Japanese) comes from Japanese 匙, from Japanese 茶, from Japanese 葉, from Middle Chinese 葉.

匙を投げる (Japanese): to throw in the towel, to give up, to quit

Definitions

  1. to throw in the towel, to give up, to quit

Ancestry of “匙を投げる”, step by step

匙を投げる traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 匙

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese匙spoon, scoop; a scoop for food; a wooden sword...
2Japanese茶tea; brown
3Japanese葉leaf, needle, blade; a season, an age: a shorter...
4Middle Chinese葉—

via Japanese を

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1JapaneseをA case particle; A conjunctive particle, usually...
2Proto-Japonicwoaccusative marker; away from, off
Every word from Middle Chinese 葉 →Every word from Japanese 葉 →Every word from Japanese 茶 →