没有精神，没劲（儿）

[yuechu]

大家好！

I was recently talking to a 网友 who was mentioning that a lot of his co-workers got COVID recently, and 她们没有精神. Does anyone know exactly what 没有精神 means? Does it usually refer to energy in general? Is it the same as 没劲儿? (I'm not sure if this second word only exists with 儿话音 or if it is a general word throughout Chinese-speaking areas without 儿话音 as well)

Thanks!

 

[SuperXW]

1. 没有精神

没有精神 is a general mental status such as above.

2. 没劲儿 = 没力气
No strength (physical)
e.g.
她的手没劲儿，扭不开瓶盖。
她生病了，全身没劲儿。
我累了，没劲儿了。

3. 没劲 (Northern slang)
Not interesting, dull. Often speaks with a mood of disappointment, implying it is not worthy spending more energy on something or somebody.
e.g.
这件事情没劲，不值得做。
你这个人真没劲。

 

[piano_mary]

Does anyone know exactly what 没有精神 means?

It's a state of lethargy, both physically and mentally. But I think physical exhaustion is more often the cause.

Is it the same as 没劲儿?

No, not the same. "没劲儿" is about the lack of physical strength in particular.

3. 没劲 (Northern slang)
Not interesting, dull. Often speaks with a mood of disappointment, implying it is not worthy spending more energy on something or somebody.
e.g.
这件事情没劲，不值得做。
你这个人真没劲。

superXW is right, "没劲" means dull or boring, and can be applied to both people and things. (Though I'm not sure if it's a slang or not, we use it quite often.)

 

[SuperXW]

It's a state of lethargy, both physically and mentally. But I think physical exhaustion is more often the cause.

Or lack of sleep, or depression.

精神 the word itself, to be specific, is combined by:
精 "essence" + 神 "spirit"

 

[yuechu]

Thanks so much for all your examples, SuperXW and Piano_Mary! 😃

 

[SimonTsai]

In case you are interested, the leftmost picture that SuperXW gave is called 葛優躺.

In addition to SuperXW's explanation, I'd like to mention the expression 帶勁. For example, '這哪門子辣椒? 吃起來一點都不帶勁!' 帶勁 means more than interesting; it means exciting.

Is it the same as 没劲儿? (I'm not sure if this second word only exists with 儿话音 or [...])

People here in Taiwan say it, but typically, they say it with minimal or without retroflexion.

No, not the same. "没劲儿" is about the lack of physical strength in particular.

I am not sure. See

總是沒勁做事？心理師教你如何重拾動力！

只想過得快樂，卻愈來愈沒勁？英國人氣心理師 Julie Smith：為了真正在乎的事，痛並快樂著才更有意思！

In these examples, 沒勁 means 沒幹勁, which means a serious lack of motivation.

 

[henter]

没有精神等于英文中的listless或者lethargic. 这个网友就是说他的工友们目前萎靡的精神状态。健康不佳造成的。

 

[yuechu]

3. 没劲 (Northern slang)
Not interesting, dull. Often speaks with a mood of disappointment, implying it is not worthy spending more energy on something or somebody.
e.g.
这件事情没劲，不值得做。
你这个人真没劲。

This is similar to "无聊", right?

Thank you all for your replies! (even if it is a belated thanks!)

 

[SuperXW]

This is similar to "无聊", right?

For some reason, 没劲 may not be replaced by 无聊 in many contexts.
If they say 你这人真无聊 depending on the context, they may mean you are doing meaningless, random things.
E.g. 你这人真无聊，搞这些恶作剧。
If they say 你这人真没劲, depending on the context, they may mean you are not willing to do any interesting things, or not willing to take any risk, or being too stingy. The main point is "not worthy to deal with".
E.g. 你这人真没劲，这点小钱还跟我计较。
又如：这事儿很没劲，折腾半天就挣那么点钱。

 

[yuechu]

For some reason, 没劲 may not be replaced by 无聊 in many contexts.
If they say 你这人真无聊 depending on the context, they may mean you are doing meaningless, random things.
E.g. 你这人真无聊，搞这些恶作剧。
If they say 你这人真没劲, depending on the context, they may mean you are not willing to do any interesting things, or not willing to take any risk, or being too stingy. The main point is "not worthy to deal with".
E.g. 你这人真没劲，这点小钱还跟我计较。
又如：这事儿很没劲，折腾半天就挣那么点钱。

Oh, I had no idea! Good to know! Thanks, SuperXW! 😃

Maybe that's why in Singapore, even when speaking English (or Singlish to be more exact), they say 无聊 without translating it! (because it is a hard word to translate to English)