Effort & Endurance
刻苦勉勵
각고면려
kè kǔ miǎn lì
Gak-go-myeol-lyeo
刻
새길 각
苦
쓸 고
勉
힘쓸 면
勵
힘쓸 려
Character by character
Meaning
Bear the hardship and drive yourself on.
Origin
A compound of two classical terms — enduring hardship and urging oneself forward.
How it is used
A compact way to describe someone’s long stretch of preparation.
Hanja刻苦勉勵
Simplified刻苦勉励
Korean reading각고면려
Pinyinkè kǔ miǎn lì
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does Gak-go-myeol-lyeo mean?
刻苦勉勵 · Bear the hardship and drive yourself on.
Q. Where does Gak-go-myeol-lyeo come from?
A compound of two classical terms — enduring hardship and urging oneself forward.
Q. How is Gak-go-myeol-lyeo used?
A compact way to describe someone’s long stretch of preparation.
Idioms in the same group
愚公移山 U-gong-i-sanOld Man Yu moves the mountain — persistence accomplishes anything.磨斧作針 Ma-bu-jak-chimGrind an axe into a needle — dogged effort achieves even the impossible.螢雪之功 Hyeong-seol-ji-gongMerit earned reading by fireflies and snow-light — study achieved in hardship.切齒腐心 Jeol-chi-bu-simGrinding your teeth and letting your heart rot — nursing a grievance.臥薪嘗膽 Wa-sin-sang-damSleep on firewood and taste gall — endure any hardship to settle a score.百折不屈 Baek-jeol-bul-gulBroken a hundred times and still unbent.
The idioms used in Korea mix phrases from the Chinese classics with ones coined in Korea. Where an expression is not used in China, the entry says so.