邀功 (yāo gōng) — to take credit for someone else's achievement

Definition

邀功 means 'to take undeserved credit' — claiming others' achievements as one's own, usually implying the person is being ungrateful or shameless. The 功 highlights the 'merit/achievement' that is being wrongfully claimed.

verb
to take credit for someone else's achievement

Examples

  • 邀功，。
    Tā zǒng xǐ huan yāo gōng, bǎ bié rén de chéng guǒ shuō chéng zì jǐ de.
    He always likes to take credit, claiming others' achievements as his own.
  • 邀功，。
    Jīng lǐ zài huì shàng yāo gōng, shuō tuán duì de chéng gōng quán kào tā de lǐng dǎo.
    The manager took credit at the meeting, saying the team's success was all due to his leadership.
  • 邀功。
    Zhè zhǒng xíng wéi yāo gōng de zuò fǎ ràng rén hěn bù shū fu.
    This kind of behavior of taking credit makes people very uncomfortable.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

邀yāoseek
功gōngmerit

邀 means to seek or claim and 功 refers to merit, so the word describes claiming credit.

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
敫
敫jiǎo邀yāo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

邀 pairs 辶, a walking part, with 敫, which gives the sound.

Open 邀 →

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
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng功gōng
Same sound today

功 puts 力 (strength) beside 工, which gives the sound gōng and means labour or work.

Open 功 →

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