Tā niánqīng shí shì ge jiētóu hùnzi, hòulái cái zǒushàng zhèngdào.
When he was young he was a street hoodlum; later he straightened himself out.
Tips
register
Colloquial and pejorative. Two flavors: a small-time street thug (街头混子), or someone who 'just gets by' at work without contributing (职场混子). Use only when the contempt is intended.
memory
From 混 (hùn, to muddle through / mix in). A 混子 muddles through life - the suffix 子 turns it into a person-noun, like 骗子 (piànzi, swindler).
