要命

• Pinyin: yào mìng
• Desglose de hanzi: 要 = to demand/take; 命 = 人 (person) + 令 (command — life as heaven-given mandate); together: 'to take one's life' — used hyperbolically

Significado

a más no poder; terriblemente (coloquial)

Most commonly used as a predicate intensifier: 累得要命 (exhausted to death), 痛得要命 (in terrible pain), 难得要命 (insanely difficult). Can also describe something as life-threatening in a more literal sense. Informal, spoken register; sounds hyperbolic in formal writing.

Ejemplos

1. 连续三天三夜赶项目，他累得要命，一坐上回家的地铁就睡着了。
2. 今天的考试难得要命，好几道大题我都不知道从哪里下手，估计成绩不会好看。
3. 这段时间压力大得要命，他开始失眠，整个人看上去憔悴了很多。

Guía de uso

Contexto: spoken, emotion, intensifier, complaint

Tono: negative

Correcto

• 这道数学题难得要命，我对着它坐了两个小时，草稿纸用了一大叠，最终还是没能推导出正确答案，只能等明天去问老师了。(This maths problem was insanely difficult; I sat staring at it for two hours, used up a thick stack of scratch paper, and still couldn't work out the correct answer — I'll just have to ask the teacher tomorrow.)
• 搬家那天她一个人抗了十几箱书上楼，累得要命，第二天连手都抬不起来，在床上躺了整整一天才缓过劲来。(On moving day she carried over a dozen boxes of books upstairs by herself, exhausted to the point of collapse; the next day she couldn't even lift her arms, and it took a full day of lying in bed before she recovered her strength.)

Incorrecto

• 在报告中写道累得要命 — 要命 is casual and colloquial; in formal written reports say 工作强度极高 or 身心俱疲; 要命 in formal writing undermines the professional register

Origen e historia

要 (to demand/take) + 命 (life — 人 person + 令 command; life as that which is commanded by heaven); literally 'to demand one's life' — hyperbolic intensifier

Contexto cultural

Época: Modern

Generación: All ages

Contexto social: Universal