胼手胝足

piánshǒuzhīzú
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 calluses on hands and feet from hard labor
  2. 2 to work one's fingers to the bone

Examples

Fùbèi piánshǒuzhīzú, cái zhèng xià zhè fèn jiāyè.
Our elders worked themselves to the bone to build this family enterprise.
Yímín men piánshǒuzhīzú, kāikěn le zhè piàn huāngdì.
The immigrants toiled with calloused hands and feet to reclaim this wasteland.

Tips

history
From 《荀子·》 (xúnzǐ · zǐdào, 'Xunzi: The Way of Sons'): 耕耘手足 ('plowing and planting until hands and feet are callused, to support one's parents'). and both literally mean 'callus.'
memory
Both (pián) and (zhī) carry the (flesh) radical — they describe what physical labor does to flesh. Memorize them as a fixed pair: = 'callus,' the wraparound ... frames where the calluses form.

Stroke Order

pián
shǒu
zhī