白手起家

bái shǒu qǐ jiā

to start from nothing; self-made

Character by character

白bái
empty

手shǒu
hands

起qǐ
build

家jiā
family

他是白手起家的，没靠过父母一分钱。

He’s self-made and never took a penny from his parents.

Tone: positive (praise).

Praise for people who built a fortune from scratch.

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