A term used by parents and guardians to give certain weight to doing tasks normally not enjoyed/wanted (ie chores, homework).
"Building character" should be defined as creating strength within yourself to complete tasks that you normally would not appreciate doing when you don't have someone forcing your actions.
"Building character" should be defined as creating strength within yourself to complete tasks that you normally would not appreciate doing when you don't have someone forcing your actions.
Son : But, MOM!!! I don't want to mow the grass!
Mother : Do it anyway.
Father : Yes, son, it builds character.
Mother : Do it anyway.
Father : Yes, son, it builds character.
by dezy July 7, 2004
A term many working classes and deeply religious people use to have an impressionable and coddled young person experience something unpleasant or humiliating, usually hard labor, something embarrassing, or confinement. Results usually end up either having the person's spirit broken or ending up with being just as much of an asshole as the person enforcing it.
by waspcoloredstain April 29, 2015
Any personal happening that is so absolutely awful, embarrassing, or painful that, in order to make one feel better about it, its very existence must be given some sort of arbitrary purpose, such as "building character."
My home is at least five miles away and I have no car, no money, and no pants. Now, to get there. This'll be a character building experience.
by itselll February 17, 2011