you can't win against a crying child or a feudal lord
Proverb meaning that it is futile to argue with someone who is unreasonable or has absolute power, just as one cannot reason with a crying child or defy a powerful land steward in medieval Japan.
See also: 泣く子と地頭には勝てない (なくことじとうにはかてない)
It's no use saying anything to that boss. Like they say, you can't win against a crying child or a feudal lord.
Modern colloquial variant using 勝てない instead of classical 勝てぬ; meaning is identical.
A traditional Japanese proverb. 地頭 refers to a land steward appointed by the shogunate in the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, who held great local authority. The saying compares the futility of reasoning with a crying child to the impossibility of opposing such a powerful figure.