tau1 laan5偷懶偷懒
Jyutpingtau1 laan5
Yaletāu láahn
Definition
To laze around, slack off, or shirk responsibilities due to laziness.
colloquialworkschool
How it's used
Focuses specifically on the act of shirking duties or cutting corners while one is supposed to be working or studying. It implies a sense of deception or lack of integrity, as the person is pretending to be busy while actually doing nothing or something unrelated. It is frequently used by bosses or teachers to reprimand someone for their lack of focus.
Examples
Is he trying to slack off and not do his homework again?
Related words
Common phrases
to be habitually lazy
Common mistake
Avoid using this to describe someone who is simply a lazy person by nature, as that is better expressed as 懶. 偷懶 is an action or behavior performed during a specific task or period of responsibility.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- QuestionsFrom yes or no questions to asking who, what, where, and when. The patterns you need to ask questions naturally in Cantonese.
- ClassifiersCantonese puts a classifier between a number and a noun, and a bare classifier on its own can mean the. Learn the common ones and how to use them.
- ComparisonsHow to say bigger than, the most, the same as, and not as good as. Cantonese uses 過 where Mandarin uses 比, and that catches a lot of learners out.
