折角
せっかく · sekkaku · JLPT N2 · adverb
with trouble
せっかく sounds like 'sek-KAH-ku': 折 (fold) + 角 (corner); one who folds a corner of effort, going the extra mile
折角 literally means 'folded corner', as in bending a long road around a corner. Use it for effort taken at great pains or for a long-awaited chance: 折角来たのに = came all this way, so...
折 — hand 扌 + axe 斤
Originally written as 折 with a hand (扌) breaking or chopping something with an axe (斤), depicting the act of snapping or cutting in two. The core meaning 'to break, snap, fold' extends metaphorically to 'bend,' 'turn back,' and 'discount' (as in reducing a price by breaking off part).
角 — pictograph of a horn
角 is a pictograph of an animal's horn, with early oracle-bone forms clearly showing the curved, ridged shape of a horn. From 'horn' it extended to mean corner, angle, and by metaphor a role or part (as in a stage role). The reading jiǎo covers most of these senses.