Merely by shaking hands with 握手
Kanji Explanation: Gripping and control with 握
Shin’ichi treats Ran to a day at Tropical Land as a reward for winning the city karate tournament. As they wait in line for a ride on the roller coaster, Shin’ichi explains all the reasons why Sherlock Holmes was the greatest detective.
- 新一:
- 「助手のワトソンに初めて会った時、握手しただけで、彼が軍医でアフガンに行ってた事を見抜いてしまったんだ…」
- “The first time he met his assistant Watson, Holmes could tell just from a handshake that he was a military doctor who had been stationed in Afghanistan...”
Key Points
握手しただけで = just by shaking hands
握手 is the noun “handshake”; adding した makes it the completed action “shook hands”.
だけで means that this one action alone was enough as the basis for Holmes’s deduction.
The long 事を phrase is what Holmes saw through
彼が軍医でアフガンに行ってた事 means “the fact that he was a military doctor and had been to Afghanistan”.
事を turns that whole statement into the object of 見抜いてしまった.
行ってた and 見抜いてしまった are casual narration
行ってた is the spoken contraction of 行っていた, “had gone”.
見抜く means to see through something and discern the truth; 〜てしまったんだ presents the deduction as already completed and a bit impressive.
See Also
- Kanji: Hands and skill with 手