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I'm having some trouble understanding どの顔さげて, specifically in certain context. I get that it means something along the lines of one should be too ashamed to meet or face someone, but I saw it used in a way that threw me:

どの顔下げてドアを開ければいいのか

How should I interpret this line? Would "should I shamelessly open the door?" be okay? Or is it to be understood another way?

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    Of course there's no such a thing as "shameless" way to open doors. どの顔下げて works as sentence adverb, just like the controversial usage of "hopefully" in English. – broccoli forest Jun 22 '16 at 8:49
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"I'm having some trouble understanding どの顔さげて, specifically in certain context."

I would probably feel the same way myself if I were a Japanese-learner. That is because 「どの顔さげて」 is a cross between an idiomatic expression and a cuss phrase, and it is difficult to develop a feeling for the more colorful expressions in a foreign language.

With the phrase/sentence:

「どの顔下げてドアを開ければいいのか」

I would suggest that you forget the word "shamelessly" for a second (because it just will not fit in even though it is still highly related in nuance).

Both in meaning and nuance, the phrase in question is very close to:

"How dare you have the nerve to open that door?"

"How the heck (am I going to / could I) open that door?"

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  • I should've added that the speaker was saying this to himself, so your latter interpretation is more fitting. Thanks, this was hard for me to wrap my head around – ElSigh Jun 23 '16 at 5:06

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