Found two example translations, one is "[there is no
alternative](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/je2/52725/m0u/)", the other is
"[sorry, it was awful](http://lint.co.jp/e+/PoD/PoD.php?num=311)". What is the
scope of situations where it can be used? Is there a way to translate its
nuance into English?
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2015-03-27T20:18:59.990
23502
2015-03-29T01:49:58.897
9685
question
idioms
How would you use どうもこうもない?
This is my 5th try in answering this question, which is why it has taken some
time. The phrase is terribly difficult to explain (as the two translations you
have shown might already suggest).

Short Yamato-kotoba set phrases like this are often extremely contextual and
are used for different meanings and nuances in different situations. Just look
at the words in the phrase:

> 「どう + も + こう + も + ない」
>
> ≒ "There is neither 'how' nor 'this'."

It immediately looks like there is trouble ahead, doesn't it?

> Try thinking of 「どう」 as representing a **how** -question and 「こう」 as a reply
> to the how-question.

" **How** was your date?" "Well, it was ( **this** and that)."

If there should be neither "how" nor "this", this conversation would not
stand, would it? That is the basic meaning/nuance of 「どうもこうもない」. You just do
not have many words to talk about the topic at hand because you did not like
it, you are not interested in the topic, there is not much to it, etc. You
just do not have anything good or interesting to say about the topic.

What it exactly means depends entirely on the context/situation. It could be
said with anger, disappointment, indifference, etc. Some people say it
habitually and some basically never do. I may have never used it myself.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-29T01:49:58.897
23514
2015-03-29T01:49:58.897
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
23502
answer