爬格子 (pá gé zi) — to write for a living, to be a professional writer (often with a sense of hard work)

Definition

A vivid, colloquial Chinese expression for 'making a living by writing' — literally 'crawling across the grid' (squared manuscript paper), highlighting the hard, repetitive labor of a professional writer.

verb
to write for a livingto be a professional writer (often with a sense of hard work)

Examples

  • 爬格子，。
    Tā kào pá gé zi wéi chí shēng jì, yǐ jīng èr shí duō nián le.
    He has been making a living by writing for over twenty years.
  • ，。
    Zhè wèi zuò jiā pá le yí bèi zi gé zi, zhōng yú xiě chū le chuán shì zhī zuò.
    This writer spent a lifetime writing and finally produced a masterpiece.
  • 爬格子，。
    Bié yǐ wéi pá gé zi hěn qīng sōng, měi tiān dōu yào áo yè gǎn gǎo.
    Don't think writing for a living is easy — you have to stay up late every day to meet deadlines.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

爬páclimb
格子grid
格gégrid子zǐsuffix
后缀Suffix

“爬” means climb and “格子” means grid squares, so the word pictures writing by moving across manuscript squares.

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
爪爪zhuǎ
Sound part声符shēngfú
巴
巴bā爬pá
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

爬 pairs 爪, the part that gives the meaning, with 巴, the part that gives the sound.

Open 爬 →

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
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè格gé
Same sound today

格 is built from 木 (wood) on the left and 各 on the right, which gives the sound.

Open 格 →

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →

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