# 若无其事

ruò wú qí shì

Behave as if nothing had happened

## Meaning & wording

**Literally:** As though there were no such matter

**Traditional Chinese:** 若無其事

**Register:** General · spoken & written

[Perspective](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/topics/perspective)

## When to use it

Describe an outwardly untroubled manner after an event.

The calm appearance does not reveal what someone actually feels.

## The image & its use

Imagine a speaker who notices a small mistake, corrects it quietly, and continues the presentation with an ordinary expression. An observer might describe that manner with this phrase. The attention falls on visible behavior rather than inner confidence. Sometimes it conveys composure; sometimes it suggests that someone is overlooking a matter that deserves attention. The surrounding sentence supplies that judgment. It is therefore useful to explain what happened before describing the person's apparently unaffected response.

## Examples

改正一个小错误后，她若无其事地继续介绍。

### Traditional Chinese

改正一個小錯誤後，她若無其事地繼續介紹。

gǎi zhèng yí gè xiǎo cuò wù hòu ， tā ruò wú qí shì dì jì xù jiè shào 。

After correcting a small mistake, she continued the introduction as if nothing had happened.

他若无其事地把话题转回旅行计划。

### Traditional Chinese

他若無其事地把話題轉回旅行計劃。

tā ruò wú qí shì dì bǎ huà tí zhuǎn huí lǚ xíng jì huà 。

He casually brought the conversation back to the travel plans.

她表面上若无其事，其实很在意比赛结果。

### Traditional Chinese

她表面上若無其事，其實很在意比賽結果。

tā biǎo miàn shàng ruò wú qí shì ， qí shí hěn zài yì bǐ sài jié guǒ 。

She appeared unconcerned but cared a lot about the competition result.

忘了带笔，他却若无其事地向同桌借了一支。

### Traditional Chinese

忘了帶筆，他卻若無其事地向同桌借了一支。

wàng le dài bǐ ， tā què ruò wú qí shì dì xiàng tóng zhuō jiè le yì zhī 。

Having forgotten his pen, he calmly borrowed one from his desk partner.

## Sources & reference checks

Original explanations and examples from Chinese Idioms Almanac. Source-checked October 7, 2026.

- [Ministry of Education · 成語典](https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/idiomView.jsp?ID=1170&webMd=1&la=0)

- [CC-CEDICT · forms & pronunciation](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdqb=%E8%8B%A5%E7%84%A1%E5%85%B6%E4%BA%8B)

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