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定時ダッシュ teiji dasshu
Out the door the second the clock hits.
What does teiji dasshu mean?
Leaving exactly on time, coat already on, PC shutting down at 17:59. It sounds like an achievement because in some offices it still is.
Example
今日は用事があるから定時ダッシュする。
I've got plans, so I'm bolting out right at closing time.
Vibe
Who you can say this to, and how it lands.
Friends only Casual. Natural with friends, out of place at work or with strangers.
The story behind teiji dasshu
定時 means the fixed hour your contract ends. That a language needs a compound for sprinting out at that exact moment tells you something about the hours around it. The obstacle was rarely the workload — it was 付き合い残業, staying late out of solidarity because the person senior to you had not yet stood up.
So the phrase carries a small flag. Companies introduced no-overtime days, and a 2019 law put enforceable caps on overtime, which shifted the default in a lot of offices. Younger employees now leave on the hour without narrating it, and announcing 定時ダッシュ half proudly, half guiltily is starting to sound like a story from another decade.
Get teiji dasshu in your pocket
定時ダッシュ is one of 308 words in YABAI, a Japanese culture snack for Android. Every word comes with its meaning, an example sentence, a vibe check and a story like the one above — in 13 languages, read aloud by your device. Paid app: no ads, no sign-up, no subscription.
