📖 Meaning
To deliberately make things difficult for someone using every possible method and excuse. It describes intentional obstruction aimed at causing trouble or hardship for another person.
📜 Origin Story
This phrase appears in Guo Ge's novel 'The Legend of Jin Ping Mei' (金瓶梅传奇), Chapter 11. In the story, the character Rouyu is unwilling to reveal her true background, so she fabricates a tale: her parents died young and she was raised by her brother and sister-in-law. She explains that her sister-in-law could not tolerate her and made things difficult for her in every possible way, so she chose to leave worldly troubles behind and seek a peaceful life. The expression has since become widely used to describe deliberately creating obstacles for others.
💡 Example Usage
新经理上任后处处对他百般刁难，让他实在无法继续待下去。
After the new manager took office, he made things difficult for him at every turn, making it impossible for him to stay on.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 百般刁难
- Pinyin: bǎi bān diāo nàn
- Literal Translation: hundred, kinds, make, difficult
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4