Chinese

糟糕

/t͡sɑʊ̯⁵⁵ kɑʊ̯⁵⁵/
terrible; awful; horrible
  • HSK 5
  • TOCFL 6

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Origin

According to Qianp's Chinese Dictionary:

Possibly from Zhang Tianyi's story 成业恒:

"我客栈里欠了他好多花边，老板天天逼我还，天天而且还得吃饭，不胜糟糕之至。" ()

Alternatively, possibly from Yang Mo's Song of Youth:

"真糟糕！ 卢兄，我对于革命救国的道理真是一窍不通。" ()

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • characterChinese糟 “alcohol dregs”
    • meaningChinese米 “hulled or husked uncooked rice (Classifier: 粒 m c mn; 顆／颗 m)”
    • soundChinese曹 “plaintiff and defendant”
  • characterChinese糕 “cake”
    • soundChinese羔 “lamb”
      • ideaChinese羊 “caprid (e.g. sheep, goat, antelope, etc.) (Classifier: 隻／只 m c)”
      • ideaChinese火 “fire; flame (Classifier: 把 m; 團／团 m)”
      • soundChinese照 “to shine upon; to illuminate”
        • soundChinese昭 “bright; luminous”
          • meaningChinese日 “Sun”
          • soundChinese召 “imperial decree”
            • soundChinese刀 “knife; blade (Classifier: 把 m c g h j mb md w x; 張／张 c h; 叢／丛 mn; 支 mn mn-t)”
            • meaningChinese口 “mouth, especially the lips and internal mouth cavity (Classifier: 把 c)”

Sources