Japanese

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Alternative spellings
待った無し
待ったなし

Etymology

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From ()った (matta) + () (nashi).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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まったなし (matta-nashiまつたなし (matuta-nasi)?

  1. (competition) "now or never!", "time's up!"
  2. (by extension) no longer able to postpone matters
    ()ったなし(じょう)(きょう)
    mattanashi no jōkyō
    a situation where action must be taken now

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN