肩かた透すかしを食くわせる

Meanings

1

expression, ichidan verb

idiomatic expression

Idiomatic expression for skillfully avoiding an attack, question, or confrontation, often leaving the other party off balance. Literally 'to make someone eat a shoulder dodge', from sumo terminology.

記き者しゃの鋭するどい質しつ問もんに、大だい臣じんは肩かた透すかしを食くわせた。
The minister sidestepped the reporter's sharp question.

彼かれは相あい手てのパンチを肩かた透すかしを食くわせてかわした。

He dodged his opponent's punch with a shoulder feint.

Written forms

肩かた透すかしを食くわせる
Standard kanji spelling for this idiomatic expression.
肩かたすかしを食くわせる
Common variant with すかし in kana.
肩かた透すかしをくわせる
Variant with くわせる in kana.
肩かたすかしをくわせる
Variant with both すかし and くわせる in kana.

Kanji

肩shoulder
透transparent, permeate, filter
食eat, food

Similar words

かわす
かわす is a general verb for dodging or parrying, while 肩透かしを食わせる is an idiomatic expression implying a clever, often unexpected evasion that leaves the opponent frustrated.
受うけ流ながす
受け流す means to parry or deflect (an attack or question) smoothly, often without direct confrontation. 肩透かしを食わせる emphasizes the act of making the other party miss their target entirely.

Etymology

Derived from sumo, where 肩透かし (かたすかし) is a technique of dodging an opponent's charge by stepping aside and pulling the shoulder, causing the opponent to lose balance. 食わせる (くわせる) literally means 'to make someone eat', figuratively 'to inflict something on someone'. The phrase thus means to make someone experience a shoulder dodge, i.e., to evade them skillfully.