应酬
yìng chou · HSK 7
social interaction
🥂🍽️ 应酬 = 应 respond/oblige + 酬 toast guests with wine = obligatory socialising
酬 originally meant a host returning a toast to a guest, so 应酬 is the duty of answering social calls: dinners, drinks, and polite mingling you attend out of obligation rather than choice.
应 — 广 (shelter) + 心 (heart) + 隹 (bird)
Originally written 應, this character combined a phonetic component with 心 (heart) to suggest 'responding from the heart' or 'answering a call'. The simplified form 应 keeps the top portion. Over time it broadened from 'respond/answer' to also mean 'should' or 'ought to'.