📖 Meaning
Describes a person whose back and waist are bent and hunched, usually as a result of old age or prolonged sitting. It depicts an aged, stooped posture and is synonymous with 背曲腰躬.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom appears in Ming dynasty writer Feng Menglong's story collection 'Stories to Awaken the World' (警世通言), volume 18. The passage cites Gan Luo, a child prodigy of the Warring States period who became prime minister at the age of twelve and died the same year, remarking that even at twelve he would have white hair, missing teeth, and a bent back. The phrase thus evokes extreme aging or decrepitude compressed into a brief lifetime, and has come to describe a hunched, aged bearing.
💡 Example Usage
爷爷年纪大了，背曲腰弯，走路十分缓慢。
Grandfather is getting on in years, his back bent and waist curved, walking very slowly.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 背曲腰弯
- Pinyin: bèi qǔ yāo wān
- Literal Translation: back, bent, waist, curved
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4