忙中有失

mángzhōngyǒushī

idiom

Meanings

Mángzhōngyǒushī, zuìhòu háishi lòu kàn le yì háng zì.

In all the rush a mistake slipped in — I ended up missing a whole line of text.

Tíxǐng dàjiā xìxīn yìdiǎn, miǎnde mángzhōngyǒushī.

Remind everyone to be careful, so haste doesn't lead to errors.

usage

Often used as a self-deprecating excuse after a slip ('sorry, 忙中有失') or as a preemptive warning to a hurrying colleague.

memory

Word-by-word: 忙 busy + 中 amid + 有 there is + 失 a slip. Almost a calque of 'haste makes waste'.

忙 máng

中 zhōng

有 yǒu

失 shī