Why does 始末に負えない mean "difficult/impossible to handle"?


Each of 始末 and 負う has several meanings. What meanings do they have in 始末に負えない?
And what usage of に is being applied here?




Thinking of all the senses that are possible for each of the individual terms
is likely leading to a mish-mash of confusing ideas.

Considering the meaning of the total phrase, we can work backwards to figure
out which meanings must be relevant for the pieces.

  * 始末【しまつ】に負【お】えない  
_" impossible to handle, can't manage"_

From this phrasal meaning, I look up each of the parts in my local copy of the
_Shin Wa-Ei Chū-Jiten_. Here are the fitting senses:

  * 始末【しまつ】: _" an end to something: settlement, dealing with, putting in order"_
  * に: indicating direction of action: _" to"_
  * 負【お】えない: negative potential form of verb 負【お】う, _" to bear or shoulder a burden, to take responsibility for something"_

Literally, and horribly clunkily, 始末に負えない could parse out in English to
something like _" cannot bear [something] to its settlement"_.

More colloquially, we might say _" cannot carry [something] through [to its
conclusion]"_.

Even more simply, we might say _" cannot carry it through"_. Depending on the
phrasing, we could change this to describe the thing (rather than the
abilities of the person) as _" not manageable, not feasible"_.

