大放厥词 (dà fàng jué cí) — to make wild boasts or absurd statements; to talk nonsense

Definition

A written, derogatory chengyu meaning 'to spout absurd or boastful nonsense' — used to condemn someone's speech as ridiculous and baseless.

verb
to make wild boasts or absurd statementsto talk nonsense

Examples

  • 大放厥词，。
    Tā zài huì yì shàng dà fàng jué cí, méi rén xiāng xìn tā de huà.
    He made wild boasts at the meeting, and no one believed him.
  • 大放厥词，。
    Zhè piān wén zhāng dà fàng jué cí, guān diǎn gēn běn zhàn bú zhù jiǎo.
    This article talks absurdities; its viewpoints are completely untenable.
  • ，大放厥词。
    Bié tīng tā de, tā bú guò shì zài dà fàng jué cí bà liǎo.
    Don't listen to him; he's just spouting nonsense.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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
攵Written in full as攴pūhand, action
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
方fāng放fàng
Same sound today

放 uses 方 for its sound and 攵, a hand/action part, to mark an action of release.

Open 放 →

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
厂厂chǎng
Sound part声符shēngfú
欮
欮jué厥jué
Same sound today

厥 combines 厂 as the meaning part with 欮 as the sound part.

Open 厥 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 詞; 词 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
司
司sī詞cí(r)
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 詞 uses 言, meaning speech, and 司 to show how it was pronounced; the simplified 词 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 词 →

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