不苟言笑 (bù gǒu yán xiào) — serious and reserved in manner; taciturn; not given to frivolity

Definition

An idiom for someone who is always serious and reserved — they do not smile or speak casually. Used to describe a stern, unsmiling demeanor, often of authority figures.

idiom
serious and reserved in mannertaciturnnot given to frivolity

Examples

  • 不苟言笑，。
    Tā zhè ge rén bù gǒu yán xiào, hěn shǎo gēn tóng shì kāi wán xiào.
    He is always serious and rarely jokes with colleagues.
  • 不苟言笑，。
    Lǎo shī yí jìn jiào shì jiù bù gǒu yán xiào, dà jiā dōu bù gǎn shuō huà.
    As soon as the teacher entered the classroom, he was so serious that everyone dared not speak.
  • 不苟言笑，。
    Zhè wèi jīng lǐ yì zhí bù gǒu yán xiào, dà jiā dōu pà tā.
    This manager has always been serious and reserved; everyone is afraid of him.

Origin

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艹Written in full as艸cǎo
Sound part声符shēngfú
句
句jù苟gǒu
Same sound today

The top 艹 in 苟 relates to plants, and the bottom 句 gives the pronunciation. The original sense was a kind of grass.

Open 苟 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The early form of 言 shows an opening and a mark indicating a location; the location is not described as the source of speech.

Open 言 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
艸
艸cǎo笑xiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Open 笑 →

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