<p>It should be 放我一马. 马 here refers to the rider rather than the horse itself. It's from 三国演义.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>出自三国演义。赤壁之战，曹操大败，欲从华容道逃走，被关羽逮个正着，立马堵住去路。关羽念及往日旧恩，让开马位，使曹操得以逃脱。“放你一马”，比喻手下留情。即出于此。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Source: <a href="http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/2156078.html" rel="nofollow">http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/2156078.html</a></p>

<p>English version of the story (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictitious_stories_in_Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms#Guan_Yu_releases_Cao_Cao_at_Huarong_Trail" rel="nofollow">wikipedia</a>) </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-14T07:18:32.343Z
That  makes sense, although I am seeing a lot of 放我一码 on the net. Could be a misspelling that has become an alternative form?
deutschZuid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-14T07:35:01.817Z
@JamesJiao I've seen it as an (not so popular) BBS meme which means either "don't delete my post" or "please share invitation code/coupon code/BT torrent". 码 means bits/bytes, extended from literal meaning 'encoding', in both cases.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-14T20:58:25.623Z
Another explanation: (Don't delete my post) there's an expression called "码字/碼字" which means "to type, to write an post or sth to be on Internet". A shorter form is "码/碼"; (Give me invitation code) "码/碼" just means code.
Mike Manilone
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-14T21:09:44.773Z
@MikeManilone Yes it's very possible. In 码字, 码 means (re)arrange.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-16T05:25:13.523Z
@NS.X. Thanks for the answer but I'm sorry you didn't try harder. See I already tried to make sense of Baidu encyclopedia and couldn't. My 三国 vocab isn't too good. Basically someone (CaoCao?/Guanyu?) escaped a battle on a horse?
tao
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-16T08:40:43.590Z
@tao Though it's originated from 三国, there is nothing metaphoric or symbolic to further elaborate on. 放我一马 literally means 'let go my ride'.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-16T08:52:21.460Z
@tao And you could try harder to find the related story in English. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictitious_stories_in_Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms#Guan_Yu_releases_Cao_Cao_at_Huarong_Trail
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-18T16:22:09.010Z
@NS.X. Thank you. There is a lot of 三国 information in English as well. Only having some names of places/people wasn't enough to find the English equivilent, or perhaps I was looking in the wrong places. A readable English translation of your post would have been enough. I simply am not that good in characters
tao
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-18T23:50:28.927Z
@tao and NS.X. I think you guys are being too hard on tao. I had to read the story in order to understand it. The meaning of "让开马位" wasn't really clear to me from "放你一马".
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-19T01:58:30.307Z
@StumpyJoePete I am sorry about that. As a native speaker sometimes I'm unable to locate the very spot that a language learner may have difficulty with. Specific to this question, I falsely assumed it's the misspelling in the original title that puzzled OP and what he needed was just the correct spelling. Shouldn't have made that assumption.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-14T05:59:02.610Z
2013-02-16T08:53:16.047Z
2013-02-16T08:53:16.047Z
NS.X.
<p>I've heard this a couple times now and most recently in a movie "钢的琴". It's an idiom that means "cut me some slack"; "let me off the hook". I couldn't make sense of the Baidu encyclopedia so I'm asking here.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-14T05:30:50.097Z
You meant 放我一码 surely?... I can explain its literal meaning, but I am not sure about its cultural origin. It might have something to do with kites.
deutschZuid
<etymology><idioms>
What is the etymology of 放我一马？
# What is the etymology of 放我一马？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-02-14)

I've heard this a couple times now and most recently in a movie "钢的琴". It's an idiom that means "cut me some slack"; "let me off the hook". I couldn't make sense of the Baidu encyclopedia so I'm asking here.

**Tags:** etymology, idioms

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You meant 放我一码 surely?... I can explain its literal meaning, but I am not sure about its cultural origin. It might have something to do with kites.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2013-02-14. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

It should be 放我一马. 马 here refers to the rider rather than the horse itself. It's from 三国演义.

> 出自三国演义。赤壁之战，曹操大败，欲从华容道逃走，被关羽逮个正着，立马堵住去路。关羽念及往日旧恩，让开马位，使曹操得以逃脱。“放你一马”，比喻手下留情。即出于此。

Source: <http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/2156078.html>

English version of the story ([wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictitious_stories_in_Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms#Guan_Yu_releases_Cao_Cao_at_Huarong_Trail))

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: That  makes sense, although I am seeing a lot of 放我一码 on the net. Could be a misspelling that has become an alternative form?  
> **username_2**: @JamesJiao I've seen it as an (not so popular) BBS meme which means either "don't delete my post" or "please share invitation code/coupon code/BT torrent". 码 means bits/bytes, extended from literal meaning 'encoding', in both cases.  
> **username_3**: Another explanation: (Don't delete my post) there's an expression called "码字/碼字" which means "to type, to write an post or sth to be on Internet". A shorter form is "码/碼"; (Give me invitation code) "码/碼" just means code.  
> **username_2**: @MikeManilone Yes it's very possible. In 码字, 码 means (re)arrange.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 Thanks for the answer but I'm sorry you didn't try harder. See I already tried to make sense of Baidu encyclopedia and couldn't. My 三国 vocab isn't too good. Basically someone (CaoCao?/Guanyu?) escaped a battle on a horse?  
> **username_2**: @username_0 Though it's originated from 三国, there is nothing metaphoric or symbolic to further elaborate on. 放我一马 literally means 'let go my ride'.  
> **username_2**: @username_0 And you could try harder to find the related story in English. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictitious_stories_in_Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms#Guan_Yu_releases_Cao_Cao_at_Huarong_Trail  
> **username_0**: @username_2 Thank you. There is a lot of 三国 information in English as well. Only having some names of places/people wasn't enough to find the English equivilent, or perhaps I was looking in the wrong places. A readable English translation of your post would have been enough. I simply am not that good in characters  
> **username_4**: @username_0 and username_2 I think you guys are being too hard on username_0. I had to read the story in order to understand it. The meaning of "让开马位" wasn't really clear to me from "放你一马".  
> **username_2**: @StumpyJoePete I am sorry about that. As a native speaker sometimes I'm unable to locate the very spot that a language learner may have difficulty with. Specific to this question, I falsely assumed it's the misspelling in the original title that puzzled OP and what he needed was just the correct spelling. Shouldn't have made that assumption.  

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