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甲乙つけがたい (こうおつつけがたい) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
Meanings 1
expression, i-adjective
hard to tell which is better ; little to choose between them
Used when comparing two things of nearly equal quality or merit, making it difficult to decide which is superior. Often appears in formal or written contexts.
き
だ
。
These two works are so well done that it's difficult to choose between them.
Written forms 甲こう 乙おつ つけがたい
Standard kanji-kana mixed spelling; つけがたい is commonly written with kana for the auxiliary.
甲こう 乙おつ 付つ けがたい
Variant with 付け in kanji; less common but still seen.
甲こう 乙おつ 付つ け 難がた い
Full kanji spelling using 難い; literary or formal, rarely used in modern writing.
Kanji 甲 armor, high (voice), A grade 乙 the latter, duplicate, strange 付 adhere, attach, refer to 難 difficult, impossible, trouble Etymology From 甲乙 (kōotsu, 'A and B' or 'first and second') + 付け難い (tsukegatai, 'hard to attach/assign'). The phrase literally means 'difficult to assign first or second place,' i.e., hard to rank.
