4 characters Idiom and proverb 24 14

After learning basic characters, the next level in Chinese is combining them into words, and then idioms. This free guide helps you understand advanced idioms like 「敲骨吸髓」. Meaning and usage are below.

The idiom 「敲骨吸髓」 is the focus of our introduction today, and its explanation and application are listed below.

Crack the bones to extract the marrow. It is a metaphor for extremely cruel exploitation and oppression.

The Mandarin pronunciation of this idiom is :

qiāo gǔ xī suǐ

while its Cantonese pinyin is :

haau1 gwat1 kap1 seui5

There are a countless number of Chinese idioms, each with unique meanings and applications. We’ve provided these resources to help guide you as you dive deeper into learning Chinese.