Meaning:
“摸” means to “feel” and “touch,” and “鱼” means “fish.” Short for a Chinese idiom “浑水摸鱼” (literally: catching fish in muddy water), this term originally refers to the situation where people make profits out of chaotic conditions. Nowadays, the term is also used to refer to situations where people don’t do their work well and loaf on the job.
Example:
A: 昨天让你准备的二季度市场分析报告写完了吗？
Zuótiān ràng nǐ zhǔnbèi de èrjìdù shìchǎng fēnxī bàogào xiě wán le ma?
Have you finished writing the Q2 market report that I told you to do yesterday?
B: 还没有。
Hái méiyǒu。
Not yet.
A: 你不是在摸鱼吧？速度啊，今天下班前要交。
Nǐ bùshì zài mōyú ba？ Sùdù a, jīntiān xiàbān qián yào jiāo。
Are you not loafing on the job? Hurry up, it’s due before you leave work today.
(First editor: Debra Li)