保不齐谁手脚不干净 就顺走了
“you never know— someone might've had sticky fingers and taken it.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
您说这屋子里边 这进进出出的人那么多
“You see, with so many people coming and going in this house,”
保不齐 谁 手脚不干净 就顺 走了
“you never know— someone might've had sticky fingers and taken it.”
“That's not what you said during the day. What did I say?”
“With all these people around, someone dishonest probably pinched it, so don't blame me.”
Chinese speakers often soften accusations of theft using euphemisms like 'unclean hands and feet' or 'taking conveniently' to maintain decorum while conveying suspicion.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
most likely / quite possibly
A highly colloquial northern Chinese idiom used to express a strong possibility or suspicion.
to have sticky fingers / prone to stealing
A common idiom describing petty theft or someone untrustworthy around valuables.
pocketed / pinched / walked off with
Colloquial verb describing opportunistic, discreet pilfering of items.
Indicates completion of the pilfering action as an accomplished fact.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“Maybe you've betrayed your new master”
“might disguise themselves as civilians and slip out in the chaos.”
“but who's to say Hu Da didn't brag everywhere about his ties to you?”
“so everything looks foul to you. With no evidence, what nonsense are you talking about?”
“They might lose everything one day. You can't just be fooled”
“If the local hospital is wrong in their diagnosis, who will take responsibility?”