The word 何苦 is formed by combining the character 何, meaning "what" or "why", with the character 苦, meaning "bitter" or "suffering", to create a compound that literally interprets as "what bitterness?" or "why suffering?", which functionally serves as an idiomatic expression meaning "why bother" or "is it worth the trouble", used to question the necessity of enduring hardship or engaging in a difficult action.