泣く子と地頭には勝てぬ
(Naku ko to jitou ni wa katenu;
“You can’t win against a crying child or the lord of a manor”)

Definition:

You can’t win (an argument) against someone who doesn’t listen to reason, such as a crying child or a feudal estate steward. There are some battles you can’t win, so it’s useless to try to take them head-on. Infants don’t have the capacity for rational thought, and the powerful ignore reason in favor of their own whims, which makes them similarly implacable opponents.

Breakdown:

We begin with the verb 泣く (naku), “to cry,” in prenominal form. This allows it to attach to and modify the noun 子 (ko), “child.” This is followed by the particle と (to), essentially “and,” connecting it to the noun 地頭 (jitou). This archaic term denotes a kind of government official placed in charge of managing an estate and collecting taxes – back in those barbaric, dark days when the super-rich idled around in sprawling private estates and shut-off enclaves and ignored the plight of the masses. (Specifically, we’re talking about the Heian and Kamakura eras.) The particles following these nouns are に (ni), a directional particle probably best translated here as “against,” and は (wa), which marks the entire preceding phrase (nouns and に) as the topic of discussion. Finally, as a comment on this topic, we have the verb 勝つ (katsu), “to win,” “to defeat,” in negative potential form (i.e. “can’t”).

Notes:

This saying’s ending may be found with modern grammar (勝てない, katenai, instead of 勝てぬ) or as 勝たれぬ (katarenu). But replacing 地頭 with 地蔵 (jizou), the name of a bodhisattva whose stone likeness is found all over Japan, is considered an error.

Example sentence:

「泣く子と地頭には勝てぬというので、あの人とは論争をせずに、成功しそうな作戦を考え出すよう頑張りましょう」

(“Naku ko to jitou ni wa katenu to iu no de ano hito to ronsou wo sezu ni, seikou shisou na sakusen wo kangaedasou to ganbarimashou.”)

[“They say that there’s no winning against crying children and strongmen, so instead of arguing with that guy, let’s work on coming up with a strategy that seems likely to succeed”]