Definition
挑毛病 is a separable verb (离合词) meaning 'to find fault, to nitpick'. The structure is 挑 (to pick) + 毛病 (fault). You can insert a person, a measure word, or other elements between the two parts — like 挑他的毛病 ('find fault with him') or 挑了一堆毛病 ('found a bunch of faults'). The focus is on deliberately looking for flaws, often in a critical way.
v.o.
to nitpickto find fault with someone or something
Examples
- 挑毛病，。Tā zǒng xǐhuan tiāo máo bìng, ràng rén juéde hěn nán xiāngchǔ.He always likes to find fault, which makes him hard to get along with.
- 挑毛病，。Bié yìzhí tiāo máo bìng le, zhǐchū wèntí jiù hǎo.Stop nitpicking all the time; just point out the problems.
- ，。Tā tiāo le bàn tiān máobìng, jiéguǒ zìjǐ yě zuò cuò le.She spent a long time finding fault, but in the end she made mistakes too.
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