Figurative use of 「まどから捨てる」

Question

Yesterday, I answered a question 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 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?

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

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."