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自讨苦吃 (zì tǎo kǔ chī) — to ask for trouble; to bring trouble upon oneself

Definition

A chengyu meaning to bring trouble on yourself by your own choice — the regret is self-inflicted, not accidental.

idiom
to ask for troubleto bring trouble upon oneself

Examples

  • ，，自讨苦吃。
    Míng míng zhī dào zhè yàng zuò huì chū wèn tí, tā piān yào qù zuò, zhēn shì zì tǎo kǔ chī.
    He knew this would cause problems, but he insisted on doing it — he was really asking for trouble.
  • ，，自讨苦吃。
    Tóu zī zhī qián bú zuò hǎo diào chá, jié guǒ kuī le qián, nǐ zhè shì zì tǎo kǔ chī.
    If you invest without doing your research and end up losing money, you're just asking for trouble.
  • ，，自讨苦吃？
    Chǎo jià shí shuō chū shāng rén de huà, zuì hòu zì jǐ hòu huǐ, zhè bú shì zì tǎo kǔ chī ma?
    Saying hurtful things during a quarrel and then regretting it — isn't that asking for trouble?

Origin

Characters in this word

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 自 →

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 討; 讨 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
肘
肘zhǒu討tǎo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 討 pairs 言 (speech) with a shortened form of 肘 for sound; an old reading took 言 plus 寸 (hand) as 'rectify'. The simplified 讨 is a shorthand, so its parts are not historical components.

Open 讨 →

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 →

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 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set Phrases

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