Stop joking with 〜たまえ

Grammar Explanation: Commanding with 〜たまえ

Assisting the police with a murder investigation, Shin’ichi explains how the culprit was able to move without a trace by going out a window and scaling the wall to the next window up. The victim’s husband demands to know who killed his wife, only for Shin’ichi to accuse him.

御主人(ごしゅじん):: 「じょ、冗談(じょうだん)はよしたまえ…　だいいち、ワシの足(あし)はまだ…」; “S-stop joking around.... First of all, my leg is still...”
新一(しんいち):: 「ヘタな芝居(しばい)は、やめてくださいよ…」; “Please stop with the lousy acting...”

Key Points

よしたまえ = “stop it” as a superior-sounding command
- よしたまえ is よす “to stop (doing)” plus 〜たまえ, an imperative ending that sounds formal here.
冗談(じょうだん)はよしたまえ
- 冗談(じょうだん)は marks “joking” as the thing he wants stopped.
じょ、 shows panic before 冗談(じょうだん)
- The broken じょ is the start of 冗談(じょうだん), showing he stumbles before getting the word out.
だいいち introduces his first excuse
- だいいち means “first” or “above all” and signals that he is about to give a reason Shin’ichi’s accusation cannot be right.
- ワシの足(あし)はまだ… leaves the sentence unfinished: he is relying on the listener to infer “my leg is still not healed”.