吃得消 (chī de xiāo) — to be able to endure, stand, or bear (a situation, workload, pain, etc.)

Definition

吃得消 is a colloquial set phrase meaning 'to be able to take / handle' physical or mental strain. Negate with 不了 (吃不消 / 吃不消了); the verb splits as 吃得消 / 吃不消.

verb
to be able to endurestandor bear (a situation, workload, pain, etc.)

Examples

  • ，吃得消？
    Zhè me gāo qiáng dù de gōng zuò, nǐ chī de xiāo ma?
    Can you handle such high-intensity work?
  • ，吃得消。
    Lián xù jiā bān sān tiān, wǒ kuài chī de xiāo bù liǎo.
    After three straight days of overtime, I can barely take it anymore.
  • ，吃得消。
    Tā měi tiān pǎo shí gōng lǐ, wán quán chī de xiāo.
    He runs ten kilometers every day and has no problem handling it.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
乞
乞qǐ吃chī
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

吃 combines 口 (mouth) with 乞, which gives the sound; it originally wrote a word meaning to stutter.

Open 吃 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The old form 㝵 showed a hand picking up a cowry, meaning to obtain; later changes turned that picture into 得.

Open 得 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
肖
肖xiào消xiāo
Same sound today

消 has 氵 (water) beside 肖. The water part connects to putting out or making something vanish, and 肖 gives the sound.

Open 消 →

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