📖 Meaning
To shrug both shoulders and hunch one's back, describing an aged, feeble, or shabby and dejected appearance. The posture conveys a cowering, submissive, or pitiful demeanor typical of someone worn down by poverty or old age.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom first appears in the Qing dynasty novel 《二十年目睹之怪现状》(Strange Events Observed Over Twenty Years) by 吴趼人 (Wu Jianren), written around the turn of the 20th century. In Chapter 43, the author mocks the hired examination graders as '耸肩曲背的，酸的怕人' — hunched and shrunken men with an intolerably pedantic air. The phrase was later also used by 鲁迅 (Lu Xun) in his 1924 short story 《肥皂》(Soap), reinforcing its place in modern literary Chinese.
💡 Example Usage
他耸肩曲背地站在墙角，显得十分寒酸。
He stood hunched in the corner, shoulders drawn up, looking utterly shabby and pitiful.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 耸肩曲背
- Pinyin: sǒng jiān qū bèi
- Literal Translation: shrug shoulders, bend back
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4