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苦力 (kǔ lì) — (historical) coolie; manual laborer; strenuous physical work; hard labor

Definition

Historical term for an unskilled manual laborer (e.g. dock worker, rickshaw puller), often with a sense of exploitation. The second sense, 'strenuous labor,' is a modern extension of the same image.

noun
(historical) cooliemanual laborerstrenuous physical workhard labor
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 苦力。
    Tā yǐ qián zài mǎ tou zuò kǔ lì.
    He used to work as a coolie at the docks.
  • ，苦力。
    Zhè fèn gōng zuò tài xīn kǔ le, jiǎn zhí shì kǔ lì huó.
    This job is too hard; it's practically slave labor.
  • 苦力。
    Tā bù xiǎng yí bèi zi dāng kǔ lì.
    He doesn't want to be a laborer all his life.

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
艸艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ苦kǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The top 艸 shows grass or plants, matching the sense of bitter plants. The bottom 古 gives the sound.

Open 苦 →

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

力 is drawn as either an arm bending out from the side of the body or a wooden plough.

Open 力 →
Appears in
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