# have someone's blood on one's hands



## DarksilverSilhouette

Are there any equivalents for the saying "have someone's blood on one's hands" in Japanese?

Hey everyone,

I tried to look around on the internet for this one but couldn't find anything that could capture the implication behind this idiom. Alternatively, I tried writing a word for word translation of it--which I know is wrong--but I'm not sure if the sentence I've come up with is right at all:

あんたの手は彼の血液のしみった

I would really appreciate your help and input on this. Thanks in advance for your time and effort!

Best.


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## graysesame

You may want to read this short article
have someone's blood on one's hands - 常時英心：言葉の森から 1.0
The literal translation is "手のひらにsomeoneの血がついている", and the idiomatic translation is "someoneが死んだのはあんたのせいだ," excerpted from the above webpage.


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## gengo

graysesame said:


> The literal translation is "手のひらにsomeoneの血がついている", and the idiomatic translation is "someoneが死んだのはあんたのせいだ," excerpted from the above webpage.



I agree with those, but would only use the literal version if the situation actually involved spilled blood, and especially if it were on the killer's hands.

We often use the English phrase in a non-literal way, such as "Putin has the blood of Ukrainians on his hands," and in that context I would not use the literal translation.  However, some Japanese speakers might prefer such a figurative expression, so it probably depends on the person.

By the way, Dark, I would not use 血液 in such situations, and would use 血 instead.  We use 血液 more often in medical contexts, etc.


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## DarksilverSilhouette

Thank you both so much for your answers! 

I decided to go with the figurative one because it was in the non-literal sense we use it in English. 

As for not using 血液, it makes sense, though I'm wondering, would あんたの手は彼の血のしみった still correspond to a literal version of the situation or does it come across as something weird? Like, would it sound off to a native Japanese speaker?


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## gengo

DarksilverSilhouette said:


> As for not using 血液, it makes sense, though I'm wondering, would あんたの手は彼の血のしみった still correspond to a literal version of the situation or does it come across as something weird? Like, would it sound off to a native Japanese speaker?



It might help to know the exact English sentence you are translating, and the context in which it is being used.

Your sentence is grammatically incorrect, so it doesn't really make sense.　I'm not sure which verb you are trying to use with "しみった."  染みる means to penetrate or soak in, and can sometimes mean "to stain," but it is not the verb I'd choose for this context, nor does it conjugate as you have done, and its past tense is しみた（染みた）.

Also, be aware that あんた is not the proper translation for "you" in many situations, as it is rather brusque and informal.

Please tell us exactly what you want to translate.


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## SoLaTiDoberman

あんたの手は彼の血のしみった （This sentence is grammatically incorrect, and doesn't make sense to me.)

*あんた*の手*には*【彼の名前】の血が*ついている*
*おまえ*の手には【彼の名前】の血がついている
*きさま*の手には【彼の名前】の血がついている

*あなた*の手には【彼の名前】の血がついている　
I think this is unnatural because this sentence is only used in a conversation.
This should be a spoken Japanese sentence.
And this is used as a curse under ordinary circumstances.
Therefore, the formal, official and polite version of "you" あなた seems weird in reverse if the speaker is a man.
(If you think of the situation when the male speaker is testifying in court, and he dares chose a figurative expression to blame the suspect, this sentence can be natural. )

If the speaker is a woman, it's natural to use あなた.
Women can use あなた both in their colloquial conversations and in formal settings.


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## DarksilverSilhouette

Thank you Gengo and SoLaTiDoberman for your replies and pointing out the mistakes in the sentence I wrote. Also, yes, I was going for 染みる.

The exact sentence is "His blood is on your hands." The context is a mother is telling her estranged son that his friend's blood is on his hands (although there is no blood on the son's hands literally). I apologize for not providing it earlier.


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## SoLaTiDoberman

Did the son kill his friend?


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## gengo

DarksilverSilhouette said:


> The exact sentence is "His blood is on your hands." The context is a mother is telling her estranged son that his friend's blood is on his hands (although there is no blood on the son's hands literally).



Maybe:
友達が死んだのはあんたのせいですよ。
あんたのせいで死んだのよ、友達が。
あんたが悪いから死んだのよ、友達が。
etc.

I used あんた here, but in real life a Japanese mother would probably use her son's given name or nickname, as in "しんちゃんのせい," or whatever the name is.


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## DarksilverSilhouette

SoLaTiDoberman said:


> Did the son kill his friend?


No.


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## DarksilverSilhouette

gengo said:


> Maybe:
> 友達が死んだのはあんたのせいですよ。
> あんたのせいで死んだのよ、友達が。
> あんたが悪いから死んだのよ、友達が。
> etc.
> 
> I used あんた here, but in real life a Japanese mother would probably use her son's given name or nickname, as in "しんちゃんのせい," or whatever the name is.


Thank you!


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## gengo

DarksilverSilhouette said:


> No.



Well, the English implication is that the mother is blaming her son for the death, so she is saying that he at least indirectly killed the friend.


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## Flaminius

DarksilverSilhouette said:


> The exact sentence is "His blood is on your hands." The context is a mother is telling her estranged son that his friend's blood is on his hands (although there is no blood on the son's hands literally).


[Name of the friend]は、あんたが殺したも同然だ。
Gloss: It's almost like you killed [Name of the friend].

The Japanese verb has a much stronger sense than the English "to kill."  It's more like "to murder" and you never used it like "to be killed in an accident."


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## DarksilverSilhouette

Flaminius said:


> [Name of the friend]は、あんたが殺したも同然だ。
> Gloss: It's almost like you killed [Name of the friend].
> 
> The Japanese verb has a much stronger sense than the English "to kill."  It's more like "to murder" and you never used it like "to be killed in an accident."


Thank you Flaminius. It also makes perfect sense in terms of the verb 殺す. For some reason, it’s always come across with deeper implications compared to the verb ‘kill’ in English.


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