苟 gǒu careless
careless; frivolous; illicit
How it came to be
Grass over the sentence block, first a plant name. Doing a thing anyhow is a borrowed sense. It stands under the stick in the character for respect: somebody to be watched.
How it is used
- Two literary jobs. "Careless/perfunctory": 一丝不苟 (yìsī-bùgǒu) meticulous, not the least bit careless; 不敢苟同 (bùgǎn gǒutóng) I beg to differ (lit. dare not carelessly agree).
- "To scrape by / illicitly": 苟且 (gǒuqiě) to drift along / act improperly, 苟活 (gǒuhuó) to live on ignobly. Bookish register throughout.