片棒

• 読み: かたぼう
• ローマ字: katabou
• 漢字の分解: 片 (hen/kata) — one side, fragment; 棒 (bou) — stick, pole
• 発音: /ka.ta.boː/

意味

Accomplice; one who shares in carrying out a scheme, especially a wrongful one. Literally, one side of a carrying pole.

Almost always appears in the fixed expression 片棒を担ぐ (to become an accomplice in; to lend a hand to a plot). The image is of two people carrying a load on a pole — one end each. The phrase implies knowing involvement in something disreputable.

例文

1. 詐欺の片棒を担いだとして逮捕された。
2. そんな不正な計画の片棒は担げない。
3. 黙って見ているだけでも片棒を担いでいるも同然だ。

使い方ガイド

場面: crime, moral reproach, journalism

トーン: critical

起源と歴史

From 片 (one side) + 棒 (stick, pole). Derived from the image of two carriers sharing a carrying pole. Used figuratively since the Edo period.

文化的背景

時代: Edo-Modern

世代: Adults

社会的背景: Universal