Definition
要命 (yào mìng) is a colloquial complement after 得 meaning 'extremely, unbearably' — stronger than 慌 (huāng) and 一塌糊涂 (yì tā hú tú), which also intensify. It can also stand alone as an exclamation of frustration ('damn it!'). The literal sense 'to cause death' is rare in modern speech.
verb
(used as complement after 得) extremelyterriblyunbearably(exclamation) what a nuisancedamn it (expressing frustration)(literal, rare) to cause someone's deathto be fatal
Examples
- 要命。Zhè wèntí nán de yào mìng.This problem is terribly difficult.
- 要命，！yào mìng, yòu xià yǔ le!What a nuisance, it's raining again!
- 要命。Tā zuìjìn máng de yào mìng.He's been extremely busy lately.
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