teoi1 saam1 teoi1 sei3推三推四

Jyutpingteoi1 saam1 teoi1 sei3

Yaletēui sāam tēui sei

語句

Definition

To refuse to do something by repeatedly making excuses; to procrastinate or stall.

colloquialpeoplecommunication

How it's used

This idiom describes a specific type of social evasion where someone uses a series of flimsy excuses to avoid a request. It carries a strong sense of frustration from the speaker, implying that the person being described is being deliberately uncooperative or lazy. It is almost exclusively used to criticize someone's lack of commitment or their tendency to dodge responsibility.

Examples

giu3叫nei5你bong1幫sau2手zau6就teoi1推saam1三teoi1推sei3四，nei5你dou3到dai2底soeng2想dim2點aa3呀？

You keep making excuses when I ask for help, what exactly do you want?

keoi5佢seng4成jat6日teoi1推saam1三teoi1推sei3四，gan1根bun2本zau6就hai6係m4唔soeng2想zou6做。

He keeps stalling and making excuses; he just doesn't want to do it.

Common phrases

seng4成jat6日teoi1推saam1三teoi1推sei3四

always making excuses to avoid doing things

Common mistake

Learners often mistake this for a literal action of pushing things, but it is strictly a metaphorical expression for verbal stalling. Do not use it to describe physical movement or literal pushing.