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Yesterday, I [answered a
question](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/40950/12985) on the Anime SE site
about a consistency between Japanese audio and English subtitles.

To summarize:

From what I could understand of the dialogue, the character in question was
saying

> 2秒いないにまどから捨ててるな。

Which I tentatively translated as

> [My argument] didn't last for two seconds before being thrown out [the
> window].

**Edit:** I have found [a clip on YouTube](https://youtu.be/_ziRxrHkg2o) of
the dialogue in question, that should hopefully not be region-locked. The
phrase is at about 0:30. It could very well be the case that I misheard what
was being said, and that my question is way off-base.

After performing a sentence search on jisho.org for similar phrases using 捨てる
as well as a cursory Google search, I couldn't find any authoritative evidence
that the phrase 「まどから捨てる」 can be used in the same figurative sense as its
translation can be in English, as in "to dismiss something completely."

My question is, was this usage of the phrase atypical, even in Japanese? Or is
it commonly known and used, and I have just been looking in the wrong places?
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question
nuances phrases idioms
Figurative use of 「まどから捨てる」
> 2秒いないにまどから捨ててるな。

Since I do not know the context, I do not know what is being discarded or
thrown out the window. So, I would only be able to guess this sentence might
imply either of the following two:

  * （私｛わたし｝は誰｛だれ｝かが）2秒[以内]｛いない｝に（それを）窓｛まど｝から捨｛す｝てていると推察｛すいさつ｝する。  
_I guess someone is throwing it away from the window within two seconds._

  * （私｛わたし｝は誰｛だれ｝かが）2秒[以内]｛いない｝に（それを）窓｛まど｝から捨｛す｝てたと推察｛すいさつ｝する。  
_I guess (someone) discarded it from the window within two seconds._

I would not be able to infer a meaning like "My argument did not last for two
seconds before being thrown out the window." This is because the phrase
"窓から捨てる" in Japanese is not generally an idiomatic expression compared to the
English "threw it out the window."

However, although I do not use such 「そんなつまらない議論は窓から捨てておけ」, I might possibly
use in a figurative sense like 「そんなつまらない議論は窓から放｛ほう｝り投げておけ or 放｛ほう｝り出しておけ」. The
reason is that the latter phrase has a stronger sense of volitionally throwing
something out the window as far as possible whereas the former does not have
that sense.

「窓｛まど｝から何｛なに｝かを捨｛す｝てる」のはあまり良｛よ｝い行為｛こうい｝とは思｛お｝いませんが、「窓｛まど｝から捨｛す｝てる」は日本語｛にほんご｝では特別｛とくべつ｝の表現｛ひょうげん｝ではなく、普通｛ふつう｝の表現｛ひょうげん｝です。  
"窓｛まど｝から何｛なに｝かを捨｛す｝てる _Throwing something from the window_ " is not a very
good act, but "窓｛まど｝から捨｛す｝てる" is not a special expression in Japanese, it is
an ordinary expression.

たとえば次｛つぎ｝のような用例｛ようれい｝があります。  
You have the following examples using 「窓｛まど｝から捨｛す｝てる」:

  * 「走｛はし｝っている車｛くるま｝の窓｛まど｝からごみを捨｛す｝てていけません」  
_"You can not throw garbage out of the window of a running car."_

  * 「窓｛まど｝から何｛なに｝かを捨｛す｝てると、それが外｛そと｝を歩｛ある｝いている人｛ひと｝に当｛あ｝たると危険｛きけん｝です。」  
_"Throwing something from the window is dangerous if it strikes someone
walking outside."_
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answer
窓から投げ捨てる is a slangy and joking expression which basically means "to throw
away (something shitty)", "to abandon". ～を窓から投げ捨てろ is particularly common. I
would call this a set phrase, although I don't know who firstly said it. I
believe this phrase is at least 15 years old.

> Windowsマシンを窓から投げ捨てろ! Macを買え!

This is almost always used with tangible shitty products which you can
physically throw away. Usually people don't use this phrase in the sense of
議論を却下する. Maybe someone misheard something, but I don't know what's going on
without actually seeing the episode.
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answer