自找苦吃

zìzhǎokǔchī
to bring trouble on oneself

CEDICT

自己招惹麻煩、困擾。如：「你不要淌這混水，那可是吃力不討好，自討苦吃。」也作「自找罪受」。

重編國語辭典

Entry Composition

1 自找 zìzhǎo
  1. to suffer as a consequence of one's own actions
  2. you asked for it
  3. to bring it on oneself (sth unpleasant)
2 苦 kǔ
  1. bitter
  2. hardship
  3. pain
  4. to suffer
  5. to bring suffering to
  6. painstakingly
=3 吃 chī
  1. to eat; to consume
  2. to eat at (a cafeteria etc)
  3. to eradicate; to destroy
  4. to absorb
  5. to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc)
=3 吃 chī variant of 吃 chī

Related entries

招風惹草 zhāofēngrěcǎo (idiom) to bring trouble on oneself
自尋煩惱 zìxúnfánnǎo to bring trouble on oneself (idiom)