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唇舌 (chún shé) — (literal) lips and tongue; (figurative) argument, explanation, eloquence

Definition

Always used figuratively: 'words, argument, persuasion' — literally 'lips and tongue' but never means the body parts in modern usage. Common in set phrases like 费尽唇舌 ('exhaust one's eloquence') and 唇舌之争 ('a war of words').

noun
(literal) lips and tongue(figurative) argumentexplanationeloquence

Examples

  • 唇舌。
    Tā fèi jìn chún shé cái shuō fú le duì fāng.
    He exhausted his eloquence to persuade the other side.
  • 唇舌。
    Zhè chǎng chún shé zhī zhēng chí xù le sān gè xiǎo shí.
    This dispute of words lasted three hours.
  • 唇舌，。
    Bú bì duō fèi chún shé, wǒ men zhí jiē xíng dòng ba.
    No need to waste words, let's act directly.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

唇chúnlip
舌shétongue

唇 and 舌 are paired body parts, so together they stand for speech or argument.

Characters in this word

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
辰
辰chén唇
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

唇 is built from 口, meaning mouth, and 辰, which points to its sound.

Open 唇 →

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

舌 was drawn as a snake's forked tongue rising from an open mouth.

Open 舌 →
Appears in
Body PartsCommunication & Speech

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