吃老本 (chī lǎo běn) — to rest on one's laurels, to coast on past achievements

Definition

Literally 'eat one's old capital', this verb means to live off past achievements instead of putting in new effort. It is always negative — it implies laziness or decline, not pride in former success.

verb
to rest on one's laurelsto coast on past achievements

Examples

  • 吃老本，。
    Tā zì cóng huò jiǎng hòu jiù yì zhí chī lǎo běn, bú zài nǔ lì le.
    He's been resting on his laurels ever since he won the award and no longer works hard.
  • 吃老本，。
    Gōng sī bù néng zǒng chī lǎo běn, bì xū bú duàn chuàng xīn.
    The company can't just coast on past achievements; it must keep innovating.
  • ，。
    Tā yǐ jīng chī le sān nián lǎo běn, xiàn zài gāi zhǎo gōng zuò le.
    He's been living off his past achievements for three years; now it's time to find a job.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

吃chīeat
老本old capital
老lǎoold本běncapital
偏正Modifier + head

To 吃 one's 老本 is to live off past achievements, as if consuming old capital.

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
乞
乞qǐ吃chī
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

吃 combines 口 (mouth) with 乞, which gives the sound; it originally wrote a word meaning to stutter.

Open 吃 →

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

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Open 老 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

本 adds a stroke at the bottom of a tree shape to mark the roots, giving the sense of foundation or original.

Open 本 →

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