偷闲 (tōu xián) — to snatch a moment of leisure; to take a short break from busy work

Definition

偷闲 (tōu xián) literally means 'to steal leisure' — taking a brief, hard-won break in the middle of a busy schedule. Implies the rest is snatched, not freely granted.

verb
to snatch a moment of leisureto take a short break from busy work

Examples

  • ，偷闲。
    Gōng zuò zài máng, yě yào tōu xián xiū xi yí xià.
    No matter how busy work is, you should still snatch a moment to rest.
  • ，。
    Tā máng lǐ tōu le jǐ tiān xián, qù hǎi biān dù jià.
    He stole a few days of leisure from his busy schedule and went on a beach vacation.
  • 偷闲，。
    Zhōu mò tōu xián, hē bēi chá kàn kàn shū.
    On weekends, snatch a moment of leisure to drink a cup of tea and read a book.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

偷tōusnatch
闲xiánleisure

偷 means snatch and 闲 means leisure, so the word describes stealing time for a rest.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
俞
俞yú偷tōu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 亻, a standing person, points to the idea of someone doing the act, while the right part 俞 gives the character its sound.

Open 偷 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 閒; 闲 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 閒 puts 月 (moon) inside 門 (door), as if moonlight peeks through a door; this picture gives the idea of a gap or space. The simplified 闲 is a later abbreviation.

Open 闲 →

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