苦差 (kǔ chāi) — hard and unprofitable job; thankless task

Definition

苦差 is informal shorthand for a 'tough, unrewarding job' — a 苦 ('bitter/hard') + 差 ('errand/task') pairing, used in casual speech. Counts as a single unit, never split the characters apart in this sense.

noun
hard and unprofitable jobthankless task

Examples

  • 苦差
    Hěn duō rén jué de zuò fān yì shì kǔ chāi, qí shí bù rán.
    Many people think being a translator is a thankless job, but it's not.
  • 苦差
    Zhè fèn kǔ chāi méi rén yuàn yì jiē, zuì hòu zhǐ hǎo wǒ zì jǐ lái.
    No one was willing to take on this hard and unprofitable job, so in the end I had to do it myself.
  • 苦差
    Tā měi tiān jiā bān dào shēn yè, gān de dōu shì kǔ chāi.
    He works overtime until late every night, doing nothing but thankless tasks.

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