Hi. Does anyone know the etymology of 是非 meaning ‘by all means’? It is odd because the kanji literally mean ‘right and wrong’ or ‘pro and con’ by themselves and that is a separate use for this word, which also exists in Chinese, from which it originates. It doesn’t seem to be an ateji, so I’m wondering where the usage of ‘by all means’ comes from.
2 comments
是非 as a noun is what you said, “right and wrong”. But the sense of “by all means” originated from 是非 used as an ***adverb***, which is synonymous to 是でも非でも or 是非とも. So, “no matter right or wrong”, “regardless of yes or no”, “**no matter what**”.
矛盾 is another direction contrasting Kanji can go.