xuě雪snowshàng上onjiā加addshuāng霜frost
To add frost to snow; one disaster after another; to make things worse in a bad situation.
Literal meaning
snow (雪) — on (上) — add (加) — frost (霜)
Origin
A classical four-character phrase.
Examples
shī失yè业hòu后yòu又shēng生bìng病，zhēn真shi是xuě雪shàng上jiā加shuāng霜。
Losing his job and then getting sick was really adding insult to injury.
jīng经jì济wēi危jī机hòu后，fáng房jià价xià下diē跌，duì对hěn很duō多rén人lái来shuō说shì是xuě雪shàng上jiā加shuāng霜。
After the economic crisis, the fall in house prices was the last straw for many people.
Usage & nuances
Describes a situation where a bad situation is made even worse.
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