粗心大意

1. Basic Information

• Pinyin: cū xīn dà yì
• English Translation: Careless, inattentive, and sloppy
• Idiom Composition: 「粗」（Coarse, rough, careless）＋「心」（Heart, mind）＋「大」（Greatly, seriously）＋「意」（Attention, awareness）
• Meaning: Describes a state of being careless and inattentive, lacking attention to detail, and prone to making mistakes due to insufficient caution.

2. Detailed Meaning and Nuances

「粗心大意」 contains the following nuances:

• Inattentiveness: Indicates a tendency to overlook details and make frequent mistakes due to lack of attention.
• Carelessness: Shows a tendency to be rough or sloppy, not paying close attention to details.
• Rashness: Implies a lack of caution and tendency to act impulsively or carelessly.
• Lack of precision: Means low accuracy or quality in work or tasks, resulting in sloppiness.

3. Usage

「粗心大意」 is mainly used in the following contexts:

• Describing personality: Used to describe someone’s careless and inattentive personality.
  • Example:「他这个人就是粗心大意，经常丢三落四。」
    （He is careless and inattentive, often forgetting things.）
• Evaluating actions: Used to point out that an action was careless or inattentive.
  • Example:「你这样做事太粗心大意了，很容易出错。」
    （You are being too careless in doing this, it’s easy to make mistakes.）
• Cause of failure: Used to explain that carelessness was the cause of a failure or problem.
  • Example:「这次事故就是因为他的粗心大意造成的。」
    （This accident was caused by his carelessness.）

Additional Examples:

1. 他因为粗心大意，把重要的文件弄丢了。
   （He lost an important document due to his carelessness.）
2. 你不能总是这么粗心大意，否则会出大问题。
   （You can’t always be so careless, or it will cause big problems.）
3. 这次考试失败，主要是因为你粗心大意，没有仔细检查答案。
   （The failure in this exam was mainly because you were careless and didn’t carefully check your answers.）
4. 粗心大意的司机很容易引发交通事故。
   （Careless drivers are prone to causing traffic accidents.）
5. 她虽然聪明，但有时候也会因为粗心大意而犯错。
   （Although she is smart, sometimes she makes mistakes due to carelessness.）

4. Cultural Background and Notes

• In Chinese culture, attention to detail and accuracy are highly valued. The idiom '粗心大意' is often used to criticize behavior that goes against these values.

5. Similar and Opposite Idioms

• Similar Idioms:
  • 马马虎虎 (mǎ mǎ hū hū): Careless and sloppy.
  • 疏忽大意 (shū hū dà yì): Negligent and inattentive.
• Opposite Idioms:
  • 一丝不苟 (yì sī bù gǒu): Meticulous and conscientious.
  • 精益求精 (jīng yì qiú jīng): Striving for perfection and continuous improvement.

6. Summary

'粗心大意' is an important idiom frequently encountered by Chinese learners in daily life and business contexts. To use it appropriately, it is essential to understand the cultural emphasis on attention to detail in Chinese society. Being aware of its synonyms and antonyms helps learners express themselves more accurately and richly.