No way he can win with 〜っこない

Grammar Explanation: A strong denial with 〜っこない

As he performs one trick after another, Kaito says he’s unbeatable at magic. Aoko says he can’t win against Kaitou Kid, the magic-using thief her police father has yet to apprehend. Kaito disregards the claim and continues disrupting class with his tricks.

青子(あおこ):: 「なによ、かっこつけちゃって…　勝(か)てっこないじゃない……」; “What's with all that showing off? There's no way he can win.”; 「お父(とう)さんだって、手(て)を焼(や)いてるんだから」; “Even Dad is having a hard time of it.”

Key Points

〜っこない is emphatic impossibility
- 勝(か)てっこない says winning is not merely unlikely; Aoko treats it as impossible.
- It attaches to the verb stem: 勝(か)てる becomes 勝(か)てっこない.
The target is understood from context
- The line does not repeat Kaitou Kid, but the previous exchange makes him the person Kaito supposedly cannot beat.
- じゃない turns the claim into a pointed assertion.
だって supports the judgment with evidence
- お父(とう)さんだって means “even Dad”, strengthening the argument because her police father struggles too.
- Aoko is not just insulting Kaito’s confidence; she backs it up by pointing to someone more experienced.
手(て)を焼(や)く = to be at one’s wits’ end with something
- 手(て)を焼(や)いてる is the progressive form, so her father is currently having a hard time dealing with Kaitou Kid.
- The idiom often implies that the problem is troublesome to handle, not just briefly difficult.