蠅營狗苟

1. • to swarm like flies around rotten food and drag out an ignoble existence like a dog (idiom)

     lit.

2. • to lead an undignified life to resort to any means for personal gain

     fig.

Character by character

• 蠅(yíng)fly
• 營(yíng)camp
• 狗(gǒu)dog
• 苟(gǒu)if indeed