What does “使唤” (shǐhuan) mean in Mandarin?

使唤 means to order someone around — to send them on errand after errand, with a hint of “quit bossing me.” In this clip a wife keeps dispatching her husband before he has even changed his clothes: buy soy milk, grab the package, do this, do that. He finally talks back by tallying it all up — “that’s already a lot” — turning the chore list itself into his comeback.

使唤 is built from 使 (“to make, to cause”) and 唤 (“to call”), and the second syllable is usually unstressed: shǐhuan, not shǐhuàn. It shows up in family and workplace complaints — 别使唤我 (“stop ordering me around”), and historically 使唤丫头 for a servant girl sent on errands. It carries a mildly put-upon edge that neutral words like 叫 (“to call, to tell someone to”) or the polite 请 (“to ask”) don’t, so it’s for venting about being bossed around, not for a polite request.