爬格子

págézi ㄆㄚˊ ㄍㄜˊ ˙ㄗ

    • to write (esp. for a living)

      oral

    • to spell out laboriously on squared paper

Character by character

Saying俗语俗語

Idiom惯用语 · Widely known

Literally
crawl across the grid squares
Meaning
To write for a living, or do writing work. It refers to the squares on manuscript paper. Often self-deprecating or humorous.

Sources