叩き上げる

• Reading: たたきあげる
• Romaji: tatakiageru
• Kanji breakdown: 叩 (kou/tataki) — to strike, hammer | 上 (jou/a) — to raise, up
• Pronunciation: /ta.ta.ki.a.ɡe.ɾɯ/

Meaning

To work one's way up from the bottom; to build up from nothing through hard effort.

A Group 2 (ichidan) compound verb from 叩く (to strike, to hammer) and 上げる (to raise up). The literal sense of hammering something into shape gives rise to the figurative sense of forging oneself or one's business through sheer hard work and persistence. 叩き上げ (noun form) is commonly used to describe a self-made person who rose through the ranks without privilege or connections.

Examples

1. 彼は高卒で会社に入り、二十年かけて社長の座まで叩き上げた苦労人だ。 He joined the company straight from high school and is a self-made man who worked his way up to president over twenty years.
2. 父が一代で叩き上げた会社を、息子は安易に売却してしまった。 The son casually sold off the company that his father had built up from nothing over a single generation.
3. 現場から叩き上げてきた職人の技は、学校では決して学べない深みがある。 The skills of a craftsman who has worked their way up from the shop floor have a depth that can never be learned in school.

Usage Guide

Context: business, personal history, social mobility, admiration

Tone: admiring

Origin & History

Compound of 叩く (to strike, hammer) and 上げる (to raise). The image of a craftsman hammering raw material into a finished product is extended to a person refining themselves through relentless effort.

Cultural Context

Era: Meiji–Present

Generation: Adults

Social background: Universal