work one's butt off - to work very hard

[atitarev]

Hi,

What's the Chinese idiomatic equivalent - either as a verb or an expression?

While searching for the expression, I found 工作狂 and 拼命三郎 - workaholic, interesting and new for me but is there another expression, closer in meaning?

[semantic nuance]

Here's a 成語 焚膏繼晷

Hope it helps!

[atitarev]

I think 拼命工作 will work, any other suggestions?

[semantic nuance]

Yes, you can say that.

[atitarev]

Thanks for your 成语, I missed your answer between my posts. Isn't that "burn the midnight oil", similar to 开夜车?

[atitarev]

I asked a friend and he suggested 做牛做马 - a more colourful expression.

[Meng Lelan]

做牛做马

I agree with this one, very colorful. It means more like "I work like cows and horses all day" but the meaning is essentially the same as working one's rear end off.

[Don_Horhe]

Is 做牛做马 used as a predicate, attribute or both? Are these sentences correct?:

为了今天的考试我做牛做马了两个月。

我还记得刚刚开始学中文的那些做牛做马的日子。

[semantic nuance]

Isn't that "burn the midnight oil", similar to 开夜车?

According to the definition,

。「焚膏繼晷」指燃燒燈燭讀書寫作一直到第二天日光出現。形容夜以繼日地勤讀不怠。語本唐．韓愈〈進學解〉。後亦用「焚膏繼晷」形容不眠不休地工作或活動。

(from the link I gave)

it can mean burn the midnight oil, and it can also mean that you do things or work non-stop, like burning the oil endlessly.

See the examples here.

Quoted only 2 here.

01 在求學生涯中，他最難忘大學時，焚膏繼晷的勤讀不懈。

02 為了趕上生產的進度，全體同仁不得不焚膏繼晷地努力工作。

做牛做馬 tends to mean 'work/to do things 做事情, hardly related to 'study'. So, Don_Horhe, your examples will sound strange. You may change the sentences as :

为了今天的計畫(project)我做牛做马做了两个月。

我还记得刚刚畢業時的第一份工作, 那真是一段做牛做马的日子。

And, I think this 成語 is a bit negative towards the things you describe.

Hope it helps!

[Don_Horhe]

I see, thanks!

[xiaocai]

I agree with semantic nuance on the cannotation of 做牛做马 and I'd normally use it for things that I'm not willing to, but have to do and is badly rewarded for. 废寝忘食 sounds more neutral to me and I think you can use it for both working and study.

[LongwenChinese]

I think 连轴转 is a good one~~~ You should be able to find it in the dictionary.

[zhxlier]

maybe 累死累活

eg.

我工作得累死累活。

为了期末考试我学习得累死累活。

[xiaocai]

maybe 累死累活

Can do as well. But this is a strongly negative word I think.

[doraemon]

I think 马不停蹄 is a good phrase as well. In this case, 马不停蹄地工作 would mean "to work around the clock" or "to work non-stop".

[necroflux]

I'd go with "苦勞“ ku3lao2 (simplified 苦劳) (Edit - now my gf is telling me this is hard to use, and it's only a noun, so ignore this!)

My girlfriend gave me:

鞠躬盡瘁 （鞠躬尽瘁） ju1gong1jin4cui4 which means "put forth the utmost effort"

"你對工作鞠躬盡瘁"

Edited January 13, 2010 at 05:19 AM by necroflux

[semantic nuance]

a related phrase to 做牛做馬 is 為人作嫁, which is originally from 秦韜玉's <<貧女詩>>. The poem is about a poor girl who makes exquisite wedding garments for other brides-to- be. The phrase later implies that people work hard not for themselves but for others. It's not paid off.

Here's the explanation of 為人作嫁. And, here's the usage of 為人作嫁.