水土不服 (shuǐ tǔ bù fú) — not acclimatized to a new environment (climate, water, food, etc.); to suffer from unaccustomed surroundings

Definition

An idiom for failing to adjust to a new climate, food, or surroundings — usually causing physical symptoms like stomach trouble. It describes the situation, not a cure.

idiom
not acclimatized to a new environment (climate, water, food, etc.)to suffer from unaccustomed surroundings

Examples

  • ，水土不服，。
    Gāng qù nán fāng de shí hou, tā yīn wèi shuǐ tǔ bù fú, jīng cháng lā dù zi.
    When he first went to the South, he often had diarrhea because he wasn't used to the new environment.
  • 水土不服。
    Chū guó liú xué de rén hěn róng yì chū xiàn shuǐ tǔ bù fú de zhèng zhuàng.
    People studying abroad are very likely to experience symptoms of not being acclimatized.
  • ，水土不服。
    Tā yǐ qián zài běi fāng shēng huó, dào le rè dài dì qū hòu yǒu xiē shuǐ tǔ bù fú.
    He used to live in the north, and after arriving in the tropics he had some trouble adjusting.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

水土water and soil
水shuǐwater土tǔsoil
联合Side by side
不服not adapt
不bùnot服fúadapt
偏正Modifier + head

水土 (water and soil) is the new environment, and 不服 (not adapt) says it is not suited.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 土 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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
凡凡fántray
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠬝
𠬝𠬝服fú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 服, the part 𠬝 was the original picture for 'to subdue'; the added left part 凡, a tray, later changed shape.

Open 服 →

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