Where does “尻尾を掴む” come from?

尻尾を掴む (Japanese) comes from Japanese 尻尾, from Japanese 尾, from Old Japanese 尾.

尻尾を掴む (Japanese): to have something on someone; to catch someone out; to trip someone up; to have evidence; to get a lead

Definitions

  1. to have something on someone; to catch someone out; to trip someone up; to have evidence; to get a lead

Ancestry of “尻尾を掴む”, step by step

尻尾を掴む traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 尻尾

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese尻尾tail
2Japanese尾a tail; the foot of a mountain; the end of...
3Old Japanese尾—

via Japanese を

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1JapaneseをA case particle; A conjunctive particle, usually...
2Proto-Japonicwoaccusative marker; away from, off

via Japanese 掴む

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese掴むto grab
2Japanese束bundle, bunch, batch, sheaf, coil; handbreadth,...
Every word from Old Japanese 尾 →Every word from Japanese 尾 →Every word from Japanese 尻尾 →