📖 Meaning
Originally described speaking and acting in an orderly, unhurried manner without fluster. It now also conveys doing things slowly and at a leisurely pace. It is a variant form of the more common idiom 慢条斯理 (màn tiáo sī lǐ).
📜 Origin Story
This idiom has no well-documented origin in classical literature and is recorded as a variant of the more standard 慢条斯理. The parent idiom appears in vernacular fiction of the Ming and Qing dynasties, such as novels depicting everyday social interaction. The character 腾 (téng) here serves as an intensifier conveying a drawn-out, leisurely quality. No specific historical figure or anecdote is associated with its coinage.
💡 Example Usage
他做事总是慢腾斯礼的，从不着急。
He always does things in a slow and unhurried manner, never rushing.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 慢腾斯礼
- Pinyin: màn téng sī lǐ
- Literal Translation: slow, leisurely, thus, orderly
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4