忍饥挨饿

1. Basic Information

• Pinyin: rěn jī ái è
• English Translation: Enduring hunger and starvation
• Idiom Composition: 「忍」（To endure or tolerate the physical pain of hunger.）＋「饥」（Hunger or famine.）＋「挨」（To suffer or undergo hardship.）＋「饿」（Starvation or being hungry.）
• Meaning: To endure hunger and starvation due to a lack of food. It describes a painful state of living under harsh conditions like poverty, disaster, or war where one cannot obtain sufficient food for a long period.

2. Detailed Meaning and Nuances

「忍饥挨饿」 contains the following nuances:

• Emphasis through Tautology: By pairing similar words like 忍 (rěn) and 挨 (ái) (both meaning to endure) with 饥 (jī) and 饿 (è) (both meaning hunger), the idiom emphasizes that the suffering is prolonged and severe.
• Passive Hardship: This idiom carries a strong nuance of 'being made to starve' by external forces beyond one's control, such as poverty, rather than voluntary fasting for dieting or religious reasons.

3. Usage

「忍饥挨饿」 is mainly used in the following contexts:

• Depicting Poverty: Most frequently used to describe a living situation where one lacks daily meals due to extreme poverty.
  • Example:「在那段艰苦的岁月里，许多家庭不得不忍饥挨饿。」
    （During those difficult years, many families were forced to endure hunger and starvation.）
• Survival and Extreme Conditions: Describes endurance in extreme situations where food supplies are cut off, such as being lost, war, or natural disasters.
  • Example:「探险队员们在雪山上迷路了，忍饥挨饿度过了三天。」
    （The explorers got lost on the snowy mountain and spent three days suffering from hunger.）

Additional Examples:

1. 为了供孩子上大学，父母省吃俭用，甚至忍饥挨饿。
   （To put their child through university, the parents scrimped and saved, even going hungry at times.）
2. 流浪狗在街头忍饥挨饿，看起来非常可怜。
   （The stray dog is starving on the streets and looks very pitiful.）
3. 他不愿回忆起童年那段忍饥挨饿的日子。
   （He does not want to recall those days of suffering from hunger during his childhood.）
4. 战争导致无数难民流离失所，忍饥挨饿。
   （The war caused countless refugees to be displaced and suffer from starvation.）

4. Cultural Background and Notes

• In Chinese history and literature, 'hunger' caused by famine or war is a recurring theme. This idiom evokes a sense of social tragedy and the desperate struggle for survival, going beyond mere physical sensation.
• As living standards have improved in modern China, using 忍饥挨饿 (rěn jī ái è) to describe casual hunger (like waiting for lunch) sounds overly dramatic and unnatural. It is reserved for historical accounts, news about impoverished regions, or metaphorical descriptions of extreme hardship.

5. Similar and Opposite Idioms

• Similar Idioms:
  • 饥寒交迫 (jī hán jiāo pò): Suffering from both hunger and cold simultaneously; a state of extreme misery.
  • 餐风露宿 (cān fēng lù sù): To eat the wind and sleep on the dew; to endure the hardships of travel or homelessness.
  • 饥肠辘辘 (jī cháng lù lù): To be extremely hungry.link
  • 风餐露宿 (fēng cān lù sù): To eat in the wind and sleep in the dew, describing a hard life in the open.link
• Opposite Idioms:
  • 丰衣足食 (fēng yī zú shí): Having ample food and clothing; living in abundance and prosperity.
  • 酒足饭饱 (jiǔ zú fàn bǎo): To have eaten and drunk to one's heart's content; fully satisfied.

6. Summary

忍饥挨饿 (rěn jī ái è) is an idiom used to describe the agonizing state of enduring long-term hunger due to unavoidable circumstances like poverty or disaster. It is not used for simple hunger; rather, it is a heavy expression used for life-threatening situations or when describing past hardships.