<p>留神 means "pay attention"</p>

<p>一不留神 means " not paying attention for just an instance"</p>

<p>In the sentence,  "一不留神" implies " before I notice it" </p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>一不留神</strong>写了不少军报头条</p>
</blockquote>

<p>"<strong>Before I noticed it</strong>, I had already written many lead articles in Military News"</p>

<p>You could use <em>"Before I noticed it"</em> or <em>"Before I knew it"</em></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-17T02:18:15.693Z
Aha, that's great, thanks! ,还写了不少东西，I also wrote a lot of things, 一不留神写了不少军报头条。 before I knew it, I had written quite a few lead articles in the Military Gazette. That makes sense!
Gangosa
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-17T02:47:04.960Z
jukuu has 19 examples for 一不留神  among them 5.  Before you know it, bam!
 一不留神, 叭! which would suggest "before I knew it" in the present case, in agreement with answer #1.
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-17T04:49:31.173Z
to justify preceding comment notice that it was written before answer was edited (taking account of comment) to include the more common phrase suggested by jukuu
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-17T04:54:49.227Z
Can you give the link to jukuu please?
Gangosa
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-17T05:03:46.663Z
what is the problem? Just search for (google) "jukuu" and write desired combination (一不留神) in search space, anyhow the result is http://jukuu.com/search.php?q=%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%8D%E7%95%99%E7%A5%9E
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-17T01:58:41.090Z
2016-09-17T03:02:48.290Z
2016-09-17T03:02:48.290Z
Tang Ho
<p>I think the meaning of word "somehow" is similar to "一不留神". The author didn't care about whether he's articles could be the lead stories. He just like to do it.</p>

<p>For we, if we kept doing the thing all the time, we would find out that time passes unbelievably quick. After a long time had past, the author found out that he <strong>somehow</strong> wrote a lot of lead stories.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-19T08:50:46.297Z
2016-09-19T08:50:46.297Z
Wenling Liu
<p>his main job is 工程兵, his part-time, leisure activity is writing articles to the military newspaper.</p>

<p>一不留神, means <strong>unintentionally</strong> in the sentence. cause his leisurely activity has more achievements than his main job.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-17T01:23:23.837Z
Thanks, but writing requires a conscious effort on the part of the author. How can you unintentionally write anything?
Gangosa
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-17T01:41:20.953Z
well, you misunderstand lah :) an article to be 軍報頭條 (headlines of military newspaper) is an achievement, the author had several (不少). normally, people spend less time & effort in their leisure activity, if they get more achievements in it, it's unintentionally. it's not that he write without conscious efforts, it's his less input with better achievement. there's a proverb 無心插柳柳成蔭 to describe this situation: http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Z00000159184
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-17T01:19:27.677Z
2016-09-17T01:19:27.677Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>“一不留神”means "没注意到变化或情况"
eg:
"我早上跑步的时候，一不留神踩到狗屎了"</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-30T17:48:05.103Z
老兄，可以看的出你有誠意，但你寫中文原po 者看不懂啦，看的懂就不會問。
辛祐賦 hsinyofu
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-28T03:18:43.027Z
2016-09-28T03:18:43.027Z
DaCang
<p>I get 'take care' or 'be careful' for 留神。</p>

<p>I‘ve seen '一不留神‘ translated as 'accidentally', but this guy did not write his stuff 'accidentally'. It seems to mean 'surprisingly' here. Is that right?</p>

<p>我是1970年入伍的。我主动要求当最艰苦的工程兵，我当兵10年，参与抢险、修路盖房子，还写了不少东西，<strong>一不留神</strong>写了不少军报头条。</p>

<p><strong>一不留神</strong>写了不少军报头条。 Surprisingly, I wrote a lot of lead stories.</p>

<meaning>
What does 一不留神 mean ...还写了不少东西，一不留神写了不少军报头条?
# What does 一不留神 mean ...还写了不少东西，一不留神写了不少军报头条?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-09-17)

I get 'take care' or 'be careful' for 留神。

I‘ve seen '一不留神‘ translated as 'accidentally', but this guy did not write his stuff 'accidentally'. It seems to mean 'surprisingly' here. Is that right?

我是1970年入伍的。我主动要求当最艰苦的工程兵，我当兵10年，参与抢险、修路盖房子，还写了不少东西，**一不留神**写了不少军报头条。

**一不留神**写了不少军报头条。 Surprisingly, I wrote a lot of lead stories.

**Tags:** meaning


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## 4 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-09-17. Score: 11

留神 means "pay attention"

一不留神 means " not paying attention for just an instance"

In the sentence, "一不留神" implies " before I notice it"

> **一不留神**写了不少军报头条

"**Before I noticed it**, I had already written many lead articles in Military News"

You could use *"Before I noticed it"* or *"Before I knew it"*

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Aha, that's great, thanks! ,还写了不少东西，I also wrote a lot of things, 一不留神写了不少军报头条。 before I knew it, I had written quite a few lead articles in the Military Gazette. That makes sense!  
> **username_2**: jukuu has 19 examples for 一不留神  among them 5.  Before you know it, bam!  一不留神, 叭! which would suggest "before I knew it" in the present case, in agreement with answer #1.  
> **username_2**: to justify preceding comment notice that it was written before answer was edited (taking account of comment) to include the more common phrase suggested by jukuu  
> **username_0**: Can you give the link to jukuu please?  
> **username_2**: what is the problem? Just search for (google) "jukuu" and write desired combination (一不留神) in search space, anyhow the result is http://jukuu.com/search.php?q=%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%8D%E7%95%99%E7%A5%9E  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2016-09-19. Score: 1

I think the meaning of word "somehow" is similar to "一不留神". The author didn't care about whether he's articles could be the lead stories. He just like to do it.

For we, if we kept doing the thing all the time, we would find out that time passes unbelievably quick. After a long time had past, the author found out that he **somehow** wrote a lot of lead stories.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2016-09-17. Score: 1

his main job is 工程兵, his part-time, leisure activity is writing articles to the military newspaper.

一不留神, means **unintentionally** in the sentence. cause his leisurely activity has more achievements than his main job.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks, but writing requires a conscious effort on the part of the author. How can you unintentionally write anything?  
> **username_4**: well, you misunderstand lah :) an article to be 軍報頭條 (headlines of military newspaper) is an achievement, the author had several (不少). normally, people spend less time & effort in their leisure activity, if they get more achievements in it, it's unintentionally. it's not that he write without conscious efforts, it's his less input with better achievement. there's a proverb 無心插柳柳成蔭 to describe this situation: http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Z00000159184  

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### Answer by username_5 on 2016-09-28. Score: -1

“一不留神”means "没注意到变化或情况"
eg:
"我早上跑步的时候，一不留神踩到狗屎了"

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: 老兄，可以看的出你有誠意，但你寫中文原po 者看不懂啦，看的懂就不會問。  

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