Where does “逃げるが勝ち” come from?

逃げるが勝ち (Japanese) comes from Japanese が, from Finnish -nka — Forms nouns, mainly bird names (in dialects) and some toponyms.

逃げるが勝ち (Japanese): The one that fights and runs away may live to fight another day; fleeing is winning​

Definitions

  1. The one that fights and runs away may live to fight another day; fleeing is winning​

Ancestry of “逃げるが勝ち”, step by step

逃げるが勝ち traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese が

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1JapaneseがIndicates the subject of a sentence; conjunction;...
2Finnish-nkaForms nouns, mainly bird names (in dialects) and some toponyms

via Japanese 勝ち

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese勝ちvictory; tends to, liable to do
2Japanese勝つto win

via Japanese 逃げる

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese逃げるto escape; to run away; to get away (so to not get caught)
2Japanese逃ぐto run away; to get away
Every word from Finnish -nka →Every word from Japanese が →