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I heard this phrase a few times but I still can't grasp its meaning. Does it mean, "as much as you would like"?

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  • That meaning is ok, IMHO, but usage, may be boxing trainer will tell you that.
    – YOU
    Jun 3, 2011 at 11:16
  • And, I think 好きなだけどうぞ is more common than 思いきりどうぞ with similar meaning.
    – YOU
    Jun 3, 2011 at 11:33
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    Or maybe if you had been very rude to a fine lady and as an attempt to apologize you hold out your face and say "go ahead, slap me as hard as you want" 思いっきりどうぞ .. SLAP! :P
    – Lukman
    Jun 3, 2011 at 11:48

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You can translate it as "Knock yourself out". It means "Go ahead and do that thing, if you want to". Sometimes it's said sarcastically, as if the thing the other person wants to do/try isn't going to work out. Sometimes it's just used as "Please, go ahead", without a sarcastic tone. If there is an exclamation mark after it (or the spoken equivalent) it's probably sarcastic.

I usually see it written as 思い切ってどうぞ.

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  • +1: And thanks, I was trying to construe this as a slangy variation of 思いつく and getting nowhere.
    – Robusto
    Jun 3, 2011 at 12:39
  • You can find 思いっ切り in a dictionary, I think. It's certainly related to 思い切る and not 思いつく.
    – flamingspinach
    Jun 3, 2011 at 13:04
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    @flamingspinach: 思いっきり with っ for emphasizing may not be listed in all dictionaries. 思い切り or 思いきり should be in a dictionary, though.
    – Tsuyoshi Ito
    Jun 3, 2011 at 14:14
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思い切る, as you might guess from the letters, literally means "to stop deliberating/thinking". It can actually have two meanings: "to give up", or to "decide". That said, when it's used as 「思いっきり」, it always means to do something decisively, with gusto and without reservation.

思いっきり has been idiomatized to the point that it no longer necessarily modifies a verb; it can serve to emphasize an adjective as well: 「彼は思いっきり弾けた人格だ」(he's got a extremely spontaneous personality).

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I like the translation "absofuckinglutely go ahead", but that might be too casual (in English) for what you're looking for.

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