Where does “mất ăn mất ngủ” come from?

mất ăn mất ngủ (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese mất ngủ, from Vietnamese ngủ, from Chinese 伍, from Chinese 亻, from Chinese 工.

mất ăn mất ngủ (Vietnamese): overthinking, worrying, and stressing out to the point of not eating or sleeping well

Definitions

  1. overthinking, worrying, and stressing out to the point of not eating or sleeping well

Ancestry of “mất ăn mất ngủ”, step by step

mất ăn mất ngủ traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Vietnamese mất ngủ

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesemất ngủto be unable to sleep; to have insomnia
2Vietnamesengủto sleep
3Chinese伍—
4Chinese亻—
5Chinese工—

via Vietnamese mất ăn

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesemất ăn—
Every word from Chinese 工 →Every word from Chinese 亻 →Every word from Chinese 伍 →