I get so confused about 得起/不起. Most dictionaries don't even have an entry for either one, so it took me a long time to find out they could mean "can/can't afford to" (very useful when the context is about costs!)... but I still keep running across them in places where the meaning doesn't seem to be either about affording something or doing something in an upward/rising direction. Maybe someday I'll figure out what the other usages are doing. :/
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I get so confused about 得起/不起. Most dictionaries don't even have an entry for either one, so it took me a long time to find out they could mean "can/can't afford to" (very useful when the context is about costs!)... but I still keep running across them in places where the meaning doesn't seem to be either about affording something or doing something in an upward/rising direction. Maybe someday I'll figure out what the other usages are doing. :/