My question is about the meaning of the これで in

> **これで** 失礼します.

I've looked to see if I could find an explanation for it, but the many
"literal" translations I found all seemed to use the word "now" in their
translations in something like

> Dewa kore de shitsurei shimasu > Well, I must be leaving now

The idea of これで apparently being translated as "now" doesn't sound right to me
but I can't find any explanations or questions about this very basic phrase.
What does it actually mean?
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2015-07-14T23:57:56.797
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2020-12-12T16:55:29.217
2020-12-12T16:55:29.217
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question
meaning
What is the これで in これで失礼します
「これで」 here literally means " ** _with this_** ", with "this" referring to the
last thing that has happened.

Translation exists for the benefit of the speakers of its target language, not
the speakers of its original language. That is why " **now** " is a valid
translation of 「これで」, if not a literal one, because "now" is usually the time
when the last thing has just happened.

「失礼{しつれい}します」 does **not** mean "I am leaving.", either, if **_literal_**
translation matters. It just means "(I shall) do impoliteness." But who would
want to see "With this, I shall do impoliteness." as a translation for
「これで失礼します。」?

The public will eventually and naturally select the translation "I am leaving
now."
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2015-07-15T01:03:39.163
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answer
"これで失礼します" = "at this point, I dismiss myself."

For the record, the famous "さよ(う)なら" is a contraction of the expression
"さようならば、これにて失{しつ}礼{れい}仕{つかまつ}る" used by samurai's, which in turn means "the
situation being like that, at this point, I have the honour of dismissing
myself."

Note that "これにて" is a classical form of "これで".
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2015-07-15T02:14:42.427
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2015-07-15T02:42:35.833
2015-07-15T02:42:35.833
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answer