Bitter and sweet

I had written about ‘bitter’ and ‘sweet’ earlier and I thought it needed a little clarification.

The word ‘bitter’ (苦) has a slightly different meaning when my mother used it (and when it’s commonly used in our dialect) from its meaning in English.

If you type in the word ‘bitter’ in online English thesauruses, words like ‘sharp, acidic, pungent, vinegary, resentful, embittered’ come up.

When my mother used the word, and in common usage among our dialect, the word ‘bitter’ simply means ‘sad’ or sometimes ‘hard or difficult’ as in ‘hard or difficult life.’

There is no element of ‘resentfulness’ or ‘embitteredness’ in its meaning.

In her old age, my mother liked to use the phrase ‘first bitter then sweet’ to describe her life.

‘First bitter’ because she grew up without a father with all the hardships involved and ‘then sweet’ because in her old age, she had a good easy life.