とんでもございません

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Japanese

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Etymology

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From the adjective とんでもない by replacing ない with ございません.

Interjection

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とんでもございません (tondemogozaimasen

  1. (nonstandard) not at all

Usage notes

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Commonly considered a mistake because とんでもない is handled as an adjective in modern Japanese grammar and replacing the ない with ございません to make a polite form is thus a mistake according to the grammar. Although etymologically とんでもない is not a single word but an expression (途でもない), it is used like a single word today except for the non-standard polite forms とんでもありません and とんでもございません.