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费周章 (fèi zhōu zhāng) — to take great pains, to spare no effort, to go to a lot of trouble

Definition

费周章 means going to a lot of trouble or taking great pains over something. It is more emphatic and literary than just saying 麻烦 (máfan), which simply means 'troublesome'.

verb
to take great painsto spare no effortto go to a lot of trouble

Examples

  • 费周章。
    Tā fèi zhōu zhāng cái bǎ zhè ge wèn tí jiě jué.
    He took great pains to solve this problem.
  • ，。
    Wèi le zhè cì kǎo shì, tā fèi le hěn dà de zhōu zhāng.
    He went to a lot of trouble for this exam.
  • ，费周章。
    Zhè jiàn shì hěn má fan, xū yào fèi zhōu zhāng.
    This matter is very troublesome; it requires great effort.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

费fèispend
周章trouble
周zhōu章zhāng

From 费 spend and 周章 trouble, taking great pains.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 費; 费 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
弗
弗fú費fèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 費 has 貝, a cowry shell, and 弗, which gives a sound; the simplified 费 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 费 →

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

The oldest form of 周 drew a jade artifact with carved patterns. It was later borrowed for a place name, so an extra mark was added to distinguish it.

Open 周 →

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

章 shows a chisel piercing a piece of jade in the middle. It originally meant treating jade.

Open 章 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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