The word 死活 (sǐhuó) is formed through the common Chinese compounding method of combining two antonymous characters, 死 (sǐ, "to die/death") and 活 (huó, "to live/life"), to create a new, figurative meaning that transcends the literal sum of its parts. This juxtaposition of opposites produces an abstract noun or adverb emphasizing extremity or absoluteness, often translating to "no matter what", "at all costs", or simply "anyway", as it encompasses all possibilities from life to death. For example, in the phrase 他死活不答应 (tā sǐhuó bù dāyìng), it means "He stubbornly refused" or "He wouldn't agree no matter what", leveraging the combined force of the two extremes to express an unwavering stance.