警察沙汰

keisatsu saba

noun★Intermediate— getting in trouble with the police

◆ What It Really Means

Getting into trouble with the police, often implying minor or avoidable issues.

¶ Literal Meaning

Police affair or trouble

Literal Breakdown

警察police+沙汰affair, trouble

◇ Mental Image

A situation where someone is entangled in police matters, often due to minor or avoidable circumstances.

◈ When to Use

A friend might say, 'I got into a minor argument and now it's turned into a police affair,' using this phrase to describe the situation.

◉ Cultural Note

This phrase reflects the Japanese cultural tendency to avoid direct confrontation and to downplay serious legal issues in casual conversation.

⚖️Law

informal

A situation where someone is involved in legal trouble or police investigation, often implying minor or avoidable issues.

あの事件は警察沙汰に発展した。

That incident escalated into police trouble.

💡

Often used to describe minor legal issues or avoidable police involvement.

Collocations

警察沙汰になるto get into trouble with the police

to get into trouble with the police

This phrase is often used to describe minor legal issues or avoidable police involvement, not serious crimes.

Avoid using this phrase in formal or legal documents; it is more suited for casual conversation.

From '警察' (police) + '沙汰' (trouble, affair), originally from Chinese but naturalized in Japanese.

Often used in informal contexts to describe minor legal issues or avoidable police involvement.

警察

police

root

沙汰

trouble, affair

root

和英辞典