📖 Meaning
Long-standing habits accumulated over time are extremely difficult to eliminate or change. It describes deeply ingrained practices that resist correction despite awareness of their flaws. The idiom emphasizes the stubborn persistence of old customs or behaviors.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase appears in modern Chinese literature, notably in Guo Moruo's preface to 'The White-Haired Girl' (序〈白毛女〉), where he reflects on the difficulty of transforming old literary habits despite early calls for people's art. Guo Moruo (1892–1978) was a prominent poet, historian, and intellectual of the Republican era. The expression builds on the classical notion that accumulated practices (积习) become deeply rooted over time. It is a variant of the more common idiom 积习难改, conveying the same idea that entrenched habits are hard to break.
💡 Example Usage
他抽了几十年烟，积习难除，戒了好几次都没成功。
He has smoked for decades, and the habit is so deeply ingrained that he has tried to quit several times without success.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 积习难除
- Pinyin: jī xí nán chú
- Literal Translation: accumulate, habit, difficult, remove
- Category: Lifestyle
- Characters: 4