PUTTSU-RI ぷっつり
Meanings
1. Describes something that had continued suddenly and completely breaking off or ceasing.
2. Describes a thread, cord-like connection, tension, or concentration suddenly snapping.
Examples
We lost all contact after the final transmission from the eighth station.
八合目からの交信を最後に、ぷっつりと連絡が取れなくなった。
I pulled the thread from both ends until it snapped.
糸を両端から引っ張ったら、ぷっつりと切れた。
Someone spoke to me, my concentration snapped, and I made a mistake.
話しかけられたせいで、集中力がぷっつりと切れて、失敗した。
Dogmatic Opinion
I imagine a thread under tension being severed by something sharp—or being pulled too hard from both sides until it breaks apart.
Before the break, the two sides were physically or psychologically connected by something thread-like.
That is why expressions such as RENRAKU GA PUTTSU-RI TO TAERU—“contact was completely cut off”—feel so natural.
Compared with PATTA-RI, PUTTSU-RI makes the severed connection itself more vivid and can therefore feel more ominous.
Proximate Expression
click off
break off
Related Words
For Japanese Learners
Snap, break off, abruptly stop, be cut off completely, and lose contact completely may fit. PUTTSU-RI makes an ongoing connection feel as though a taut thread has snapped. That image is useful for communication, concentration, tension, and literal thread.
