傍人门户

傍人門戶
bàngrénménhù
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 to be dependent on others; to live under another's roof; unable to stand on one's own

Examples

Tā bù yuàn bàngrénménhù, yìrán cízhí zìjǐ chuàngyè.
Unwilling to live under someone else's roof, he resolutely quit and started his own business.
Kào fùmǔ jiējì suàn shénme běnshi? Zhěngtiān bàngrénménhù.
What kind of skill is it to live off your parents? Just leaning on someone else day in and day out.

Tips

history
From Su Shi's 《》: 不肖傍人门户?('We unworthy ones are merely living under others' doors — where do we find the leisure to quarrel?'). Originally about lesser scholars depending on wealthy patrons; now any kind of dependent existence.
memory
Parse as (lean against) + (someone else's) + 门户 (door) — to literally lean against another person's doorway. The image is of someone with no door of their own.

Stroke Order

bàng
rén
mén