📖 Meaning
To swallow filth and endure dirt — this idiom describes a person who silently bears humiliation, insults, and disgrace without retaliating. It conveys the image of someone stooping low and tolerating what others would find intolerable, often out of necessity or for a greater purpose.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom has no single recorded classical source (出处无). It is a compound expression constructed from four common characters: 含 (to hold in the mouth, to swallow), 污 (filth, defilement), 忍 (to endure, to bear), and 垢 (dirt, grime). Together they form a vivid metaphor for enduring disgrace. The idiom appears in later vernacular and literary usage rather than tracing back to a specific pre-Qin or Han dynasty text, and its meaning is self-evident from the imagery of the component characters.
💡 Example Usage
他在异乡含污忍垢多年，终于等到了翻身的机会。
He endured humiliation in a foreign land for many years, and finally waited for his chance to turn things around.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 含污忍垢
- Pinyin: hán wū rěn gòu
- Literal Translation: swallow, filth, endure, dirt
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4