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勉为其难

miǎn wéi qí nán

to take something on reluctantly

Character by character

勉miǎn
strive
为wéi
do
其qí
the
难nán
hard

Example

没人愿意主持,我只好勉为其难。
Nobody else would host, so I reluctantly agreed.

Tone: neutral.

Usage and origin

Modest when said of yourself; 就请您勉为其难吧 politely asks someone to take on a hard task.

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