Lose, Fail, Miss

Interesting Fact

The Japanese expression 面子を失う (めんつをうしなう) means “to lose face” or suffer a loss of reputation. Here, 失う (うしなう) means “to lose.” The expression is interesting because you cannot physically possess reputation, yet Japanese describes it as something that can be lost. This same idea appears in words such as 失望 (しつぼう), “disappointment,” and 失敗 (しっぱい), “failure,” showing how 失 is used for different kinds of loss and failure.