About
The character 驽 (nú), traditional form 駑, is a phono-semantic compound with the semantic radical 马 (horse) at the bottom and the phonetic component 奴 (nú, slave) at the top. Originally, it referred to a worn-out, slow, or inferior horse unsuitable for military or transport use. By extension, it is used metaphorically to describe a person of limited ability, often as a humble self-description for one who is untalented or slow-witted despite persistent effort.