Dictionary › phrase › *(s)kep-, *(s)kop- › schaffen › zu schaffen machen

zu schaffen machen

(phrase)
Word type: phrase
Based on: schaffen

Meanings

1.
to give someone a hard time
("jemandem+Dat zu schaffen machen" - usually used for tasks or circumstance or problems that give someone a hard time.)
How useful:
2.
to tamper with, to meddle with
("sich+Dat zu schaffen machen an+Dat." - usually in the context of someone meddling with a device or something, often in a context where they're not supposed to do it. Think of someone meddling with a bike lock that is not theirs.)
How useful:

Word Family

The original idea of this root was:

splitting, cutting with sharp tool

On the English side, we have family members like shave, shape and scab and possibly also scoop, though the source I am using mentions two conflicting origins for scoop.

In German,the two most important relatives are schaffen and schöpfen. Schaffen probably comes from the angle of  giving shape, carving and evolved into the broader sense of creating and then also took on the idea of succeeding, completing a creation.
Schöpfen originally meant scooping liquids by using a carved out bowl, but very early on, due to sounding similar to schaffen, people started using it also in the sense of creating.

Besides those, also the verb schaben belongs to this family, which is about scraping, rasping over a surface.

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