苟 gǒu careless
careless; frivolous; illicit
How it came to be
形声 · Meaning + sound
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
Grass gives the meaning and the lower part the sound; the word first named a kind of grass.
用法
- Two literary jobs. "Careless/perfunctory": 一丝不苟 (yìsī-bùgǒu) meticulous, not the least bit careless; 不敢苟同 (bùgǎn gǒutóng) I beg to differ (lit. dare not carelessly agree).
- "To scrape by / illicitly": 苟且 (gǒuqiě) to drift along / act improperly, 苟活 (gǒuhuó) to live on ignobly. Bookish register throughout.