拉肚子
lā dù zi · HSK 4
to have diarrhea
🚽 拉肚子 = pull + belly + (suffix) — belly keeps pulling you to the toilet
拉 lā means pull/drag, 肚 dù means belly/stomach, 子 zi is a noun suffix. Literally pulling at the belly — a vivid Chinese way to say the stomach won't leave you alone, i.e. diarrhea.
拉 — hand radical 扌 + 立 (stand, phonetic)
拉 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 indicates an action done with the hand, while 立 (lì, 'stand') supplies the sound, shifted to lā. The original sense is to pull or drag with the hand, which remains its core meaning today.
子 — pictograph of a baby/child with arms out
子 began as a pictograph of a swaddled infant with a large head and outstretched arms, originally meaning 'baby' or 'child.' From there it broadened to 'son,' 'offspring,' and a respectful suffix for masters like 孔子 (Confucius). It also became one of the twelve earthly branches.