彼はスージーと縁を切った。

Sentence Discussions Japanese
#1

I am not sure of the meaning of “He has done with Susie.”. So as an alternative, I propose:

“He severed his connection with Susie.”

#2

@mike-lima
縁を切る might be one of the typical idioms that are difficult to translate in English. 縁を切る means:

  • disown one’s child and expel them
  • decide not to communicate with one’s parents/family members/close friends
  • get divorced with one’s spouse
  • cut all ties with bad business or social groups (i.e. those who sharing the same interests/objectives)
  • quit a bad habit (e.g. smoking)

彼はスージーと縁を切った suggests that he and Susie are relatives; that they were ex-spouses, close friends or gang members, or; that they were business partners. We don’t use 縁を切る for romantic breakups although 良縁 means a good match (romantically).

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#3

I see. Thank you for the clarification, my online dictionary offered “to get divorce/to severe connection” for 「線を切る」.

From your examples, there is not one expression that can cover all the meanings, maybe “cut ties” could be used for the first four examples, but with some additional clarification.

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