Shirokuro Tsukeru (白黒つける - Determining Clearly)

Shirokuro Tsukeru

Sometimes you will have a situation where you need to determine whether something is right or wrong, good or bad.

Determining such a thing is expressed as 'shirokuro tsukeru' (白黒つける) in Japanese.

'Shiro' (白) means "white," 'kuro' (黒) means "black," and 'tsukeru' means "determine," so the literal meaning of this phrase is "to determine whether something is white or black."

It is said that this phrase comes from "Go" (a board game using white and black stones).

Since "Go" determines whether the winner is white side or black side, 'shirokuro tsukeru' came to mean to make a clear conclusion.

白黒つける

時には、物事の善し悪しや是非を、はっきりと示す必要があると思います。

そのようなことを日本語で「白黒つける」と言います。

「白」は "white"、「黒」は "black"、「つける」は "determine " を意味するので、「白黒つける」の文字どおりの意味は "to determine whether something is white or black" となります。

この表現は、囲碁から派生したと言われています。

囲碁で「白の勝ち」か「黒の勝ち」か決着をつけることから、「白黒つける」は物事の明確な結論を下す意味になったというわけです。

• Since "Go" determines whether the winner is white side or black side, 'shirokuro tsukeru' came to mean to make a clear conclusion.
• Since "Go" determines whether the winner is white or black , 'shirokuro tsukeru' came to mean to make a clear conclusion.

  is white side or black side --> is white or black
  
  or
  
  is the white side or the black side