A: What’s wrong? You look like down.
B: I failed to get the contract.
A: You mean, about the contract with ABC? That’s too hard for anyone!
B: But…
A: I think you have to have a thick skin in this line of work.
In this situation, what should you say “have a thick skin” in Japanese?
Business
B：この仕事では打たれ強くないといけないと思うよ。
Note: This is not a word-for-word translation.
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A word-for-word translation
B：この仕事では分厚い皮膚を持ってないといけないと思うよ。
We don’t say it like above in Japanese, but we have a similar expression; 面の皮が厚い which literally translates ‘You have a thick face skin.’
This expression means ‘brazen’ and has a negative connotation.
So, it’d be better to say 打たれ強い or 神経が図太い in this context.
note: Be careful, as depending on how you say it and the situation, 神経が図太い can have a negative meaning.
