滿腹牢騷 / 满腹牢骚
mǎn fù láo sāo
“full belly prison disturb”
This saying also comes as 牢騷滿腹 láo sāo mǎn fù / “prison disturb full belly”.
牢 láo / prison can also be used as a verb, i.e., to imprison / be imprisoned. (Such is the fluidity of Chinese words, varying in their grammatical functions according to their positioning.)
騷 sāo / disturb. My mnemonic for this is: horse radical 馬 mǎ plus 蚤 zǎo / flea = disturb (image: fleas bothering the horse).
滿腹牢騷 mǎn fù láo sāo means to have a bellyful of resentment / grievance.
Well, one would, wouldn’t one, if one’s belly was full of horse fleas trapped inside?
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