混事 (hùn shì) — to muddle along at work, to coast through a job without real effort

Definition

混事 means to drift or coast at a job without real effort or learning. It carries a negative judgment — the person is just passing time, not building skills.

verb
to muddle along at work, to coast through a job without real effort

Examples

  • 混事，。
    Tā měi tiān shàng bān jiù shì hùn shì, bù xiǎng xué xīn dōng xī.
    He just muddles along at work every day and doesn't want to learn anything new.
  • ，。
    Zài zhè ge gōng sī hùn le jǐ nián shì, shén me yě méi xué huì.
    After drifting along at this company for a few years, I haven't learned anything.
  • 混事，。
    Bié hùn shì le, rèn zhēn zuò diǎn shì ba.
    Stop coasting — do something seriously.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

混hùnmuddle
事shìaffair/job

混 describes getting by, and 事 is the job or affairs one gets through.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
昆
昆kūn混hùn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

混 pairs 氵 (water) on the left with 昆 on the right, which supplies the sound.

Open 混 →

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

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →

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