与日俱增
- Literal
- to increase together with the days
- Figurative
- To grow day after day without letup: the feeling, the pressure, or the figure in question keeps building as time goes on.
Where does 与日俱增 come from?
No anecdote is recorded behind it: the expression is assembled from classical building blocks — 与 ("together with"), 俱 ("alike, jointly") and 增 ("to increase") — and takes the passing of days as its measure of growth. It sounds somewhat formal and applies mostly to things you don't count in round numbers: affection, pressure, worry, prestige. Even so, the press also uses it with hard figures, about traffic, sales, or case counts.
How is 与日俱增 used? Two examples
- 随着比赛临近，他的压力与日俱增。
With the competition drawing closer, the pressure on him grows by the day.
- 大家对空气质量的关注与日俱增。
Public concern about air quality keeps growing day by day.
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