How to Read “Throwing money after a thief”
Nusubito ni oisen
Meaning of “Throwing money after a thief”
“Throwing money after a thief” means piling one loss on top of another. It describes situations where you’ve already suffered damage or loss, but then lose even more on top of that.
This proverb is used when someone could have stopped at one failure or loss, but then makes poor decisions that make things even worse.
For example, after falling for a scam, you try to get your money back but fall for another scam. Or you buy a defective product and then have to pay return shipping on top of it.
Even today, people use this saying in business failures, investment losses, and relationship troubles.
You panic and try to recover your initial loss, but end up sinking deeper. This expression warns against that vicious cycle and remains relevant today.
Origin and Etymology
No clear written records explain the origin of this proverb. However, we can make interesting observations from how the words are structured.
“Nusubito” means thief, and “oisen” means additional money you give. The phrase describes an impossible situation: being robbed by a thief, then giving them even more money.
People believe this proverb emerged from common life during the Edo period. Merchants back then experienced failures and losses in their daily business.
They didn’t just fail once. They often lost even more while trying to fix the situation. These bitter experiences likely created this powerful metaphor.
By using the extreme example of a “thief,” the proverb highlights how unreasonable and foolish it is to pile up losses.
Getting robbed is already bad enough. Giving that thief more money is obviously absurd to anyone.
This extreme expression stuck in people’s minds. That’s probably why it spread as a warning that people remembered.
This proverb came from ordinary people’s life experiences. It’s remarkably clear and contains a sharp lesson.
Usage Examples
- I returned a defective product and they charged me shipping. It’s exactly like throwing money after a thief.
- Getting scammed and then paying lawyer fees on top of it is nothing but throwing money after a thief.
Universal Wisdom
The proverb “Throwing money after a thief” points to a deep psychological weakness in humans. It’s about how our judgment fails when we face loss.
People lose their calm when they lose something. They feel desperate to get it back, to fix things somehow. This desperation becomes the doorway to even greater losses.
The damage would be minor if you stopped at the first loss. But emotions take over and you make the wrong next move. Our ancestors sharply understood this human nature.
What’s interesting is that this proverb doesn’t describe bad luck. It describes losses that grow because of your own poor judgment.
Throwing money after a thief isn’t the thief’s fault. It’s the fault of the person who throws the money.
In life, knowing when to cut your losses is crucial. But admitting loss is psychologically very difficult.
You think, “I’ve already invested this much” or “If I just try a little harder.” This mindset makes the wound deeper. This happens in investments and relationships alike.
This proverb has been passed down for so long because humans repeat the same mistakes in every era.
The difficulty of staying calm in the face of loss is a universal human weakness that transcends time.
When AI Hears This
The behavior this proverb describes represents a fatal bug in how the human brain calculates loss.
Behavioral economics research shows that humans feel the pain of losing 100 yen about 2.25 times more strongly than the joy of gaining 100 yen.
This means the urge to recover stolen money is far more intense than the happiness of earning the same amount fresh.
What’s more interesting is that two psychological traps activate simultaneously in this situation.
The first is “I’ve already been robbed,” an irreversible loss, or sunk cost. The second is the instinct of loss aversion: “If I let them escape, I’ll lose even more.”
When these two combine, human judgment deteriorates dramatically.
The same pattern appears in actual corporate decision-making. A project has already failed after a 500 million yen investment.
But thinking “If we quit now, 500 million yen will be wasted,” they invest another 300 million yen.
Someone who lost 100,000 yen at a casino thinks “I can’t leave until I win it back” and bets another 200,000 yen.
This proverb captures with surprising accuracy the moment when the emotion of loss completely paralyzes human rational judgment.
Lessons for Today
What this proverb teaches modern you is the importance of “the courage to cut your losses.”
In life, everyone experiences loss and failure. What matters is having the courage to stop there. You’re already hurt enough. You don’t need to make the wound deeper.
In modern society, this lesson has become even more important. Social media controversies, investment failures, relationship tangles.
Cases where people react emotionally to the initial problem and make things worse never stop happening.
What you can do is take a deep breath when facing loss. Ask yourself, “What should I do to avoid making this wound bigger?”
Before trying to recover, stop the bleeding first. That’s the priority.
Admitting loss is never defeat. It’s a wise choice that prevents further loss.
The courage to walk away while the wound is shallow becomes the most valuable decision in a long life.
The wisdom of our ancestors should give you time to regain your calm.
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