玩
wán
Hands turning with nowhere to arrive: 玩
The picture Your hands come off the task, and whatever is in them keeps turning for its own sake. 玩 lets go of the task and spins; 做 takes hold of a task that has an end.
Where the picture shows up in 玩
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a body at play
孩子们在外面玩。
hái zi men zài wài miàn wán
The kids are playing outside.
Bags dropped on the step while the children run loops around the yard
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going out to enjoy
周末我们去海边玩吧。
zhōu mò wǒ men qù hǎi biān wán ba
Let us go to the beach this weekend.
Leaving the chores at home and riding the bus all the way out to the water
With a place, the pattern is 去…玩
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passing time in the hand
他一直在玩手机。
tā yì zhí zài wán shǒu jī
He has been on his phone the whole time.
The work sitting untouched beside him while one thumb keeps sliding up and down the screen
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running a game
他们下班后去玩游戏。
tā men xià bān hòu qù wán yóu xì
After work they go play games.
Clocking out, sitting down in front of the screen, and starting to press buttons
Learn 玩游戏 as one chunk
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words spinning light
别开玩笑了，我是认真的。
bié kāi wán xiào le, wǒ shì rèn zhēn de
Stop joking, I mean it.
A grinning remark that circles once in front of the listener and drops
开玩笑 is the act of cracking the joke
All of it in one picture
玩 is a wheel turning with nowhere it has to arrive. Let a child's feet turn that way in the yard and it is playing; let a weekend turn you all the way out to the sea and it is going off to enjoy yourself. Fingers turning over a phone screen is passing time on it, and when that wheel drives a game on the screen it is playing the game. Let your words spin free of seriousness and they become a joke.