zāo
lie; gaspillage; gâcher; mauvais; dans le pétrin
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这菜做糟了。
zhè cài zuò zāo le.
This dish is ruined.
他糟蹋了我的东西。
tā zāo tā le wǒ de dōng xi.
He ruined my things.
糟了，我忘带钥匙了。
zāo le, wǒ wàng dài yào shi le.
Oh no, I forgot to bring my keys.
糟蹋 (zāo tā)
to waste
糟粕 (zāo pò)
dregs
好 (hǎo)
good
佳 (jiā)
excellent
The Chinese character 糟 (zāo) is composed of two parts: the radical 酉 (yǒu), which represents wine or alcohol, and the phonetic component 曹 (cáo). The character 糟 originally meant "wine lees" or "sediment", referring to the solid matter that settles at the bottom of a container of wine or other fermented beverages. Over time, the meaning of 糟 expanded to include other types of waste or dregs, such as food scraps or leftovers. In modern Chinese, 糟 is often used in the sense of "bad" or "inferior", as in the phrase 糟蹋 (zāo tà), which means "to waste" or "to ruin". The character 糟 can also be used as a verb, meaning "to make something bad or inferior". For example, the phrase 糟蹋粮食 (zāo tà liáng shí) means "to waste food".
