Shiku Hakku (四苦八苦 - Struggling to Do)

Struggling to do something or floundering is called 四苦八苦 (shiku hakku) in Japanese.

四 means "four," 苦 means "suffering," and 八 means "eight," so the literal meaning of "shiku hakku" is "four sufferings, eight sufferings."

Originally, this term meant every suffering in Buddhism.

"Shiku" represents four sufferings caused by -- "live," "old," "disease," and "death."

"Hakku" represents four additional sufferings caused by -- "separating from your loved one," "meeting with a hateful person," "things that you can't obtain," and "a fact that you can't control your body and spirit as you think."

For example, you can say 四苦八苦する (shiku hakku suru) to mean that you struggle to do something.

四苦八苦

ものすごく苦労することや、非常に苦しいことを、日本語で「四苦八苦」と言います。

「四」は "four," 「苦」は "suffering," 「八」は "eight" を意味するので、この言葉の文字どおりの意味は "four sufferings, eight sufferings" となります。

もともとこの言葉は、仏教においてあらゆる苦しみを意味するものでした。

「四苦」は「生」、「老」、「病」、「死」の4つの苦しみを表します。

「八苦」では上記の4つの苦しみに加えて、「愛別離苦（愛する者と別離する苦しみ）」、「怨憎会苦（恨み憎んでいる者に会う苦しみ）」、「求不得苦（求めるものが得られない苦しみ）」、「五蘊盛苦（人間の肉体と精神が思うがままにならない苦しみ）」を表します。

例えば「四苦八苦する」のように使われます。