tuīxiè zérèn: 推卸责任 - To Shirk Responsibility, To Pass the Buck

• Keywords: tuixie zeren, 推卸责任, shirk responsibility, pass the buck, evade blame, avoid responsibility Chinese, blame game Chinese, make excuses Chinese, accountability in Chinese.
• Summary: Tuīxiè zérèn (推卸责任) is a fundamental Chinese phrase that means to shirk responsibility, pass the buck, or actively evade blame. This deep-dive explores its strong negative connotation in Chinese culture, where group harmony and accountability are highly valued. Learn how this term is used in the workplace, in politics, and in personal life through practical examples, and understand the crucial difference between simply making an excuse and actively pushing blame onto others.

• Pinyin (with tone marks): tuī xiè zé rèn
• Part of Speech: Verb Phrase (Verb-Object)
• HSK Level: HSK 5
• Concise Definition: To push away and unload one's duties or blame, typically onto others.
• In a Nutshell: Imagine you're on a team and a major mistake happens. Instead of saying, “This was my part of the project, I take responsibility,” you immediately point to a coworker and say, “It was their fault! They gave me the wrong information.” That action of actively deflecting blame is the core of 推卸责任. It's considered a cowardly and dishonorable act, suggesting a person lacks integrity and a sense of duty.

• 推 (tuī): To push. Picture pushing a heavy box away from yourself.
• 卸 (xiè): To unload, to remove, to get rid of. Think of unloading cargo from a truck.
• 责 (zé): Duty; blame.
• 任 (rèn): Responsibility; role; duty.

The characters combine powerfully. The object is 责任 (zérèn), a standard word for “responsibility.” The action is 推卸 (tuīxiè), which literally means to “push and unload.” So, to 推卸责任 (tuīxiè zérèn) is to vividly “push and unload your responsibility,” getting it off your plate and usually putting it onto someone else's.

In Chinese culture, which often prioritizes the collective over the individual, a person's role and duties within a group (family, company, society) are paramount. To 推卸责任 is not just a personal failure; it's a social one. It disrupts harmony, shows disrespect to the group, and can cause a huge loss of “face” or social standing (面子, miànzi).

• Comparison to Western Culture: In the West, “passing the buck” is also negative, but it's often framed in terms of individual performance, careerism, or avoiding legal liability. In China, the act of 推卸责任 carries a heavier moral weight. It signifies a breakdown of trust and relational obligation (关系, guānxi). A person who does this is not just “bad at their job,” they are a person of poor character. The opposite, someone who bravely accepts responsibility, is said to have 担当 (dāndāng), a highly admired quality of courage and integrity.

This term is used frequently and is almost always a strong criticism.

• In the Workplace: This is one of the most common contexts. It's used to describe colleagues or managers who blame others for their own mistakes to protect themselves. Accusing a coworker of 推卸责任 is a serious charge.
• In News and Politics: Officials and news outlets often use this phrase to criticize other departments, companies, or even other countries for failing to own up to their problems, from environmental disasters to economic policy failures.
• In Personal Life: Within a family or among friends, it can be used to call out someone who avoids chores, financial duties, or emotional responsibilities. For example, a spouse might accuse the other of shirking their duties in managing the household.

• Example 1:
  • 出了问题，他第一反应总是推卸责任，而不是解决问题。
  • Pinyin: Chūle wèntí, tā dì-yī fǎnyìng zǒngshì tuīxiè zérèn, ér bùshì jiějué wèntí.
  • English: When a problem arises, his first reaction is always to shirk responsibility, not to solve the problem.
  • Analysis: This is a classic workplace or team complaint, highlighting the person's character flaw. It's a very common and natural way to use the phrase.
• Example 2:
  • 管理者不应该在团队面前推卸责任，这样会失去大家的信任。
  • Pinyin: Guánlǐzhě bù yīnggāi zài tuánduì miànqián tuīxiè zérèn, zhèyàng huì shīqù dàjiā de xìnrèn.
  • English: A manager shouldn't pass the buck in front of the team; doing so will cause them to lose everyone's trust.
  • Analysis: This sentence emphasizes the consequences of this action for a leader. It's not just a mistake, it's a failure of leadership.
• Example 3:
  • 你别再找借口了，你这纯粹是在推卸责任！
  • Pinyin: Nǐ bié zài zhǎo jièkǒu le, nǐ zhè chúncuì shì zài tuīxiè zérèn!
  • English: Stop making excuses, you're purely and simply shirking your responsibility!
  • Analysis: This is a direct and angry accusation. The word 纯粹 (chúncuì - “purely”) adds emphasis, showing the speaker's frustration.
• Example 4:
  • 作为成年人，我们必须学会承担责任，而不是互相推卸责任。
  • Pinyin: Zuòwéi chéngniánrén, wǒmen bìxū xuéhuì chéngdān zérèn, ér bùshì hùxiāng tuīxiè zérèn.
  • English: As adults, we must learn to accept responsibility, not just push blame onto each other.
  • Analysis: This sentence sets up a direct contrast between the correct behavior (承担责任 - chéngdān zérèn) and the incorrect one. 互相 (hùxiāng) means “mutually,” describing a “blame game.”
• Example 5:
  • 这次项目失败了，我们不要推卸责任，应该一起分析原因。
  • Pinyin: Zhè cì xiàngmù shībài le, wǒmen bùyào tuīxiè zérèn, yīnggāi yīqǐ fēnxī yuányīn.
  • English: The project failed this time; let's not pass the buck, we should analyze the reasons together.
  • Analysis: Here, the phrase is used in the negative (不要 - bùyào) as a constructive suggestion for how a team should behave after a failure.
• Example 6:
  • 他把所有的错误都归咎于他的助手，这种推卸责任的行为非常可耻。
  • Pinyin: Tā bǎ suǒyǒu de cuòwù dōu guījiù yú tā de zhùshǒu, zhè zhǒng tuīxiè zérèn de xíngwéi fēicháng kěchǐ.
  • English: He blamed all the mistakes on his assistant; this kind of responsibility-shirking behavior is extremely shameful.
  • Analysis: This example uses “行为” (xíngwéi - behavior) to describe the action and the adjective 可耻 (kěchǐ - shameful) to show the strong moral judgment associated with it.
• Example 7:
  • 丈夫对妻子说：“教育孩子是我们俩共同的责任，你不能总向我推卸责任。”
  • Pinyin: Zhàngfu duì qīzi shuō: “Jiàoyù háizi shì wǒmen liǎ gòngtóng de zérèn, nǐ bùnéng zǒng xiàng wǒ tuīxiè zérèn.”
  • English: The husband said to his wife: “Raising our child is our shared responsibility, you can't always push the responsibility onto me.”
  • Analysis: This shows the phrase's usage in a family context, over a shared, long-term duty like parenting.
• Example 8:
  • 该公司因环境污染问题而受到批评，但其发言人试图推卸责任，声称是上游工厂的错。
  • Pinyin: Gāi gōngsī yīn huánjìng wūrǎn wèntí ér shòudào pīpíng, dàn qí fāyánrén shìtú tuīxiè zérèn, shēngchēng shì shàngyóu gōngchǎng de cuò.
  • English: The company was criticized for environmental pollution, but its spokesperson tried to evade responsibility, claiming it was the fault of an upstream factory.
  • Analysis: A formal example, typical of what you might read in a news report. It demonstrates how entities, not just people, can be accused of this.
• Example 9:
  • 我承认这是我的疏忽，我绝不会推卸责任。
  • Pinyin: Wǒ chéngrèn zhè shì wǒ de shūhu, wǒ jué bù huì tuīxiè zérèn.
  • English: I admit this was my negligence, and I will absolutely not shirk my responsibility.
  • Analysis: This is what a responsible person would say. Using the phrase in the negative is a strong statement of one's own integrity.
• Example 10:
  • 别什么事都怪系统，你这是在变相地推卸责任。
  • Pinyin: Bié shénme shì dōu guài xìtǒng, nǐ zhè shì zài biànxiàng de tuīxiè zérèn.
  • English: Don't blame the system for everything; what you're doing is a disguised form of passing the buck.
  • Analysis: The term 变相 (biànxiàng - “in a disguised form”) shows a subtle nuance. It implies the person isn't blaming another person directly, but is still avoiding personal accountability by blaming an impersonal thing like “the system.”

• False Friend: “Making an Excuse” vs. “Shirking Responsibility”

A common mistake for learners is to use 推卸责任 when they just mean “to make an excuse.”

• 找借口 (zhǎo jièkǒu) means “to look for an excuse.” It's about justifying why you failed. Example: “I was late because the traffic was bad.”
• 推卸责任 (tuīxiè zérèn) is much more severe. It's about *transferring the blame* for the failure. Example: “The project is late because *he* didn't finish his part.” You can 找借口 without blaming anyone, but you cannot 推卸责任 without pushing the blame away from yourself.
• Don't Use It For Minor Issues:

Using this phrase for a small mistake sounds overly dramatic and awkward.

• Incorrect: 我忘了带笔，但我不是在推卸责任。 (Wǒ wàngle dài bǐ, dàn wǒ bùshì zài tuīxiè zérèn.) - “I forgot my pen, but I'm not shirking my responsibility.”
• Why it's wrong: Forgetting a pen is not a “responsibility” in this serious sense. It makes you sound defensive and strange.
• Correct: 我忘了带笔，真不好意思！(Wǒ wàngle dài bǐ, zhēn bù hǎoyìsi!) - “I forgot my pen, how embarrassing!”

• 甩锅 (shuǎi guō) - “To throw the pot.” A very popular and informal slang term that means the same thing as 推卸责任. It's the modern, casual equivalent.
• 承担责任 (chéngdān zérèn) - To bear/undertake responsibility. The direct positive action and antonym of shirking responsibility.
• 担当 (dāndāng) - To take on a task/responsibility; as a noun, it means courage and a sense of responsibility. This is the positive character trait that someone who doesn't 推卸责任 possesses.
• 负责 (fùzé) - To be in charge of; to be responsible for. This is the neutral term describing one's duties. If you are 负责 for a task, you should not 推卸责任.
• 责任心 (zérènxīn) - Sense of responsibility. A noun describing the personal quality. A person with strong 责任心 would never 推卸责任.
• 找借口 (zhǎo jièkǒu) - To find/make an excuse. This is a related but less severe action. Often, someone who is 推卸责任 will start by 找借口.
• 怪 (guài) - To blame. The simple, everyday verb. 推卸责任 is a more complex way of describing the *act* of blaming others to save yourself.
• 嫁祸于人 (jià huò yú rén) - A formal idiom meaning to shift disaster/blame onto another person. It's more literary and serious than 推卸责任.