饱食终日

Pronunciation: bǎo shí zhōng rì Literal meaning: Well-fed all day

Origin & Usage

Confucius, in the Analects: to eat one's fill (饱食) the whole day (终日) with the mind put to no use at all — this is a hard case. He then says, with some asperity, that there are games of chess, and that playing them would at least be something. The phrase carries that impatience. It describes not idleness in the sense of rest but the unused mind, and it fits comfortable, occupied lives in which nothing is actually being thought about.

Examples

English: "He spends his days indulging in food without any thought for the future."

Chinese: 他整天饱食终日，毫无未来的考虑。