In everyday life we encounter situations in which someone owes you an apology. If it’s not a big issue, there are a few things you could say to ease their mind.
沒事.
Méishì.
It’s fine.
没关系.
Méiguānxì.
No matter. It’s OK.
没什么.
Méishénme.
It doesn’t matter; it’s nothing; never mind.
没问题.
Méi wèntí.
No problem.
不要紧 or 不打紧
Bùyàojǐn or bù dǎjǐn.
It doesn’t matter; that’s all right.
不要放在心上.
Bùyào fàng zàixīn shàng.
Don’t worry about it.
不要介意.
Bùyào jièyì.
Don’t mind it.
In case where someone is worried about something, you could try to tell them to relax.
别着急. 着急是没有用的
Bié zhāojí. Zhāojí shì méiyǒu yòng de.
Don’t worry. It’s no use worrying.
慢慢来. 别急.
Màn man lái. Bié jí.
Take it easy. No rush.
唉呀! 别紧张.
Āi ya! Bié jǐnzhāng.
Well, take it easy.
放轻松些.
Fàng qīngsōng xiē.
Relax.
不用担心.
Bùyòng dānxīn.
No need to worry.
你放心吧. 他一定会回来的.
Nǐ fàngxīn ba. Tā yīdìng huì huílái de.
Rest assured. He will definitely come back.
看开一点. 这件事没有你想的那么严重.
Kàn kāi yīdiǎn. Zhè jiàn shì méiyǒu nǐ xiǎng dì nàme yánzhòng.
Take it easy. This issue is not as serious as you think.
船到桥头自然直.
Chuán dào qiáotóu zìrán zhí.
The boat will straighten itself when it comes to the bridge.
(Let’s cross the bridge when we come to it.)
不要忧愁; 不久就会雨过天晴.
Bùyào yōuchóu; bùjiǔ jiù huì yǔguò tiān qíng.
Don’t worry; soon the sun will shine again after the rain.
(Every cloud has a silver lining.)
我想, 最后一定会皆大欢喜.
Wǒ xiǎng, zuìhòu yīdìng huì jiēdàhuānxǐ.
I think, everyone will be happy in the end.
(All’s well that ends well.)
Now, what would you say when you decide to shrug away some minor annoyance?
无所谓.
Wúsuǒwèi.
It doesn’t matter.
管他.
Guǎn tā.
Who cares.
随他去.
Suí tā qù
Let it be.
算了.
Suànle.
Never mind.
算我倒霉.
Suàn wǒ dǎoméi.
Just my luck!
谁叫我运气不好!
Shéi jiào wǒ yùnqì bù hǎo!
Who told me to be so unlucky!
(Just my luck!)
The story goes that once there was a poor old guy riding a rowboat along a river to go home. At lunchtime, the other passengers took out their lunchboxes and enjoyed their nice meals. All the old guy had was a salted duck egg that he had saved from his breakfast. He used a pair of chopsticks to poke a hole in the eggshell and then picked up bits of the egg to savor in his mouth. As he did so, the egg became lighter and lighter. At last, he decided to set the remainder of the egg aside to snack on later. Suddenly, a puff of wind swept by and blew the nearly empty eggshell off his hand. Watching his precious eggshell float downstream, he muttered:
风吹鸭蛋壳, 财去人安乐.
Fēng chuī yādàn ké, cái qù rén ānlè.
Eggshell went with the breeze; fortune’s gone, but mind’s at peace.
Yes, free is the heart that is not tethered by worldly possessions. By the way, when you are worried, you could try singing the refrain of “Worried Man Blues” in Chinese. This song is featured at the end of Chapter 25 of “Learn Chinese through Songs and Rhymes“. Click here to listen to the entire song in English.
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