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嚼舌 (jiáo shé) — to gossip, to spread rumors; to argue meaninglessly or engage in pointless debate

Definition

嚼舌 is a colloquial verb for petty, often useless talk — either gossiping behind people's backs or arguing pointlessly. The 嚼…舌 frame is a separable verb: insert objects like 嚼什么舌 ('what are you gossiping about?') or measure words like 嚼了半天舌.

verb
to gossipto spread rumorsto argue meaninglessly or engage in pointless debate

Examples

  • 嚼舌，。
    Tā zǒng xǐ huan zài bèi hòu jiáo shé, dà jiā dōu bù xǐ huan tā.
    She always likes to gossip behind people's backs, and nobody likes her.
  • ？。
    Nǐ jiáo shén me shé? wǒ gēn běn méi shuō guò nà zhǒng huà.
    What are you gossiping about? I never said that kind of thing.
  • ，。
    Tā men wèi zhè ge wèn tí jiáo le bàn tiān shé, hái shì méi jié guǒ.
    They argued endlessly about this problem for ages and still got no result.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

嚼jiáochew
舌shétongue

“嚼” means chew and “舌” means tongue, so chewing the tongue suggests gossip.

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
爵
爵jué嚼jiáo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

嚼 pairs 口 (mouth) with 爵, which gives the sound.

Open 嚼 →

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
Communication & Speech

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