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.
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