不过是一时不慎罢了
“It was just a moment of carelessness.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
您怎么也进来了
“How did you end up in here?”
不过是 一时不慎 罢了
“It was just a moment of carelessness.”
官场沉浮
“In officialdom, there are rises and falls.”
“I slipped up slightly, but do not make a big deal out of it.”
Educated elites and officials in traditional China were expected to maintain a calm, unruffled exterior even when imprisoned, treating catastrophe as a minor mishap.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
merely; nothing more than
Used to downplay the significance or severity of a situation.
a momentary lapse; an accidental slip
A formal idiom used to minimize a serious error as just a temporary lack of care.
Reinforces the speaker's attempt to minimize the issue, meaning 'and that is all'.