Is there a colloquial phrase in Japanese that would be the same as or similar in meaning to the English phrase "caught red handed"?
1 Answer
The idiomatic part "red-handed" can be translated with 現行犯(で).
For "catch" you use an appropriate form of 捕まる・捕える or 逮捕(する) or 取り押さえる.
For example,
被疑者を現行犯で逮捕した。
We caught the suspect red-handed.
There also appears to be a compound noun 現行犯逮捕(する) for "being caught in the act / red-handed".
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1+1. Note that this expression isn't figurative (unlike red-handed) nor specifically colloquial (it can be used both in colloquial and rather formal contexts). It's quite common, though, and I don't come up with any other phrases.– YoshJun 12, 2017 at 3:28