苦活 (kǔ huó) — hard, low-paying manual labor; bitter work

Definition

A colloquial noun for hard, low-paying manual labor — backbreaking work for little pay. Distinct from 体力活, which only describes the physical effort without the 'bitter' connotation of low reward.

noun
hardlow-paying manual laborbitter work

Examples

  • 苦活，。
    Tā měi tiān gān kǔ huó, zhèng de qián què hěn shǎo.
    He does bitter work every day but earns very little money.
  • 苦活。
    Hěn duō nóng mín gōng zài gōng dì shàng zuò kǔ huó.
    Many migrant workers do hard labor on construction sites.
  • 苦活。
    Tā bù xiǎng ràng hái zi jiāng lái yě gān kǔ huó.
    She doesn't want her children to do bitter work in the future either.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

苦kǔbitter/hard
活huówork

苦 describes the hardship of 活, giving the idea of tough labor.

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
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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑活huó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

活 is built from 氵 (water) and 𠯑, which shows the sound; 𠯑 later changed into 舌.

Open 活 →

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