89084
The sentence is taken from Volume No. 5 of「 波よ聞いてくれ！」

The radio-host Minare is interviewing the spokeswoman of an underground cult.
When she introduces her as a member of a cult the spokeswoman claims that she
is working for a public-service corporation. After discussing this matter a
bit Minare says the following:

> 「 **そのスジの人** にはたまらない感じの線のほそーいハーフの美人なんですけども」

What I was wondering about is the 「 **そのスジの人** 」 .

There are several definitions and posts I found about it, however they
somewhat disagree when it comes to the nuance/implication of this phrase:

  * [goo.ne.jp entry for 其の筋](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%85%B6%E3%81%AE%E7%AD%8B/)

  * [Yahoo! Japan](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1313410298)

These definitions here seem to understand the expression as rather neutral,
while the definition of 「 **筋者** 」, which popped up when I was searching for
the meaning of the expression in question as well, clearly states that it is
more or less only used when speaking about criminals. ([zokugo-dict.com
entry](http://zokugo-
dict.com/13su/sujimono.htm#:%7E:text=%E7%AD%8B%E8%80%85%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AF%E3%81%99%E3%81%98,%E8%AA%AD%E3%81%BF%E3%80%81%E3%83%A4%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B6%E3%82%92%E6%84%8F%E5%91%B3%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B%E3%80%82&text=%E7%AD%8B%E8%80%85%E3%81%AF%E5%A4%A7%E6%8A%B5%E3%83%A4%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B6,%E3%81%A7%E4%BD%BF%E3%82%8F%E3%82%8C%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%81%9F%E3%80%82))

From the context of the Manga it is pretty obvious that mentioned spokeswoman
is associated with criminals (and Minare knows that).

So, what exactly are the nuances of this expression? Is it a neutral
expression used to somewhat hide details about a certain person or is it
strictly used for people associated with criminal activity?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-27T13:06:03.977
89083
2021-08-28T08:59:51.653
2021-08-28T08:59:51.653
-1
35673
question
meaning nuances
Who can we talk about when using 「そのスジの人」?
[A dictionary definition of
そのすじ](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%85%B6%E3%81%AE%E7%AD%8B/) is just
_in a particular area, circle_. Thus そのすじのひと means _people in a certain
circle_. As such it can mean any kind of people, even police (well, maybe not
too different from criminals).

Without any contexts, however, そのスジ（筋）のひと tends to mean, like 筋者, _people in a
criminal circle_ (or more specifically _yakuza_ , Japanese mafia).

That said, the particular line from the manga does not refer to any criminals.
It literally says _the girl is a type of half Caucasian whom **certain
people** would like very much_. ( _certain people_ = そのすじのひと). Now the obvious
question is, what kind of people are those certain people? The answer is,
those people who like half Caucasians like her (the girl in front of Minare).

As for たまらない, Consider a simpler sentence AはBが好きな人にはたまらない. This means *for
those who like B, A is something that those people would be **especially**
fond of, where B is usually a category A is a part of.

Example: このプリンはスイーツ好きにはたまらない Those people who like sweets will like this
pudding very much.

Now to the line of your question: it means she is a particularly beautiful
girl those certain people will _especially_ be fond of. In other words, she
has many features that make half Caucasians attractive.

A verbose translation: For those people who like half Caucasians (in general),
she is a thin, beautiful type whom those people would especially like.

===

Of [several meanings of
たまらない](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%A0%AA%E3%82%89%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84/#jn-138929),
the usage here is 4.程度がはなはなだしい.

[A dictionary definition of
線が細い](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E7%B7%9A%E3%81%8C%E7%B4%B0%E3%81%84/)
is only about (inner) character being sensitive or timid. But I think in
practice it also implies physically thin - no sumo wrestler would be called
線が細い.

I put _thin_ above for simplicity, but note that it surely is implying she is
timid-looking.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-27T14:18:48.173
89084
2021-08-27T21:29:07.553
2021-08-27T21:29:07.553
45489
45489
89083
answer