📖 Meaning
To remain unperturbed and see nothing wrong with something unreasonable or abnormal. It describes someone who is so accustomed to wrongdoing or absurdity that they no longer find it surprising. The phrase conveys a complacent indifference to moral or logical deviations.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Book of Han (汉书), in the biography of Jia Yi (贾谊), a prominent scholar and statesman of the Western Han dynasty. Jia Yi lamented that as social customs deteriorated and the world fell into decay, people had become so accustomed to the decline that they remained calm and did not find it strange at all. The expression was later widely cited in classical literature to criticize societal complacency toward corruption and moral decay.
💡 Example Usage
官场贪腐之风日盛，百姓却恬不为怪，实在令人忧虑。
Corruption in officialdom grows worse by the day, yet the common people remain completely unperturbed—a truly worrying state of affairs.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 恬不为怪
- Pinyin: tián bù wéi guài
- Literal Translation: calm, not, regard as, strange
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4