run behind one's expenses

run behind one's expenses

It is a Chinese idiom that people can't make ends meet. Its pronunciation is R ù B ù f ū ch ū. It means that the income is not enough to spend. It is very poor. From a dream of Red Mansions.

The origin of Idioms

Chapter 117 of a dream of Red Mansions by Cao Xueqin in Qing Dynasty: "but the family's plan is depressed, and the income can't make ends meet."

Idiom usage

His family has a large population and a small income.

Idioms and allusions

After Jia's house was ransacked, Jia amnesty and Jia Zhen were exiled, and the people who had been close to Jia's House avoided one after another. The emperor read Jia Fei's old love and granted Jia Zheng his old position. Some people came back to Jia Zheng. But at this time, the Jia family was in a depression, and their income was not enough to make ends meet. Xue pan also made Xue's house close to home.