This edition of LFTM comes from a chapter of Assassination Classroom (this week’s, in fact!). The phrase can also be written もう人生詰んだ (mou jinsei tsunda).
So what does 人生詰んだ mean?
Answer:
Tsunda (詰んだ) or tsumi (詰み) is a word whose meaning is equivalent to any/all of the following: “it’s all over”, “dashed hopes”, “all that’s left is to die”, “the result has been decided”, “end of the match”, “game over” and “the end”. Its usage is typically associated with chess or shogi, with the meaning “an unavoidable loss”, “a certain defeat”, or “checkmate”.
When tsunda is used on the net (most commonly as 人生詰んだ), it has a similar nuance. It’s the same as saying “it’s already too late” or “my life is over”. It’s used interchangeably with phrases like 人生が終わった (jinsei ga owatta).
The word is also relevant to games. Upon entering a pattern of “I’ve gotten riichi” declarations and the like in Mahjong, the situation is sometimes referred to as a raised death flag. In video games, it’s used in cases where the player has reached the end of their rope/reaches a part where they can’t go any further. For example, in order to defeat the enemy boss you need a certain weapon, but the character who would use that weapon is no longer in your party… something like that. It’s also used in situations where your character is too under-leveled and thus completing the game becomes impossible.
