知无不言 (zhī wú bù yán) — to say everything one knows; to speak one's mind without reservation

Definition

A chengyu meaning 'to say everything one knows without holding back', used for someone who is completely open and frank.

idiom
to say everything one knowsto speak one's mind without reservation

Examples

  • ，知无不言，。
    Zài huì yì shàng, dà jiā zhī wú bù yán, chàng suǒ yù yán.
    At the meeting, everyone spoke freely and said everything on their minds.
  • 知无不言，。
    Zhè wèi lǎo jiào shòu duì xué shēng zhī wú bù yán, háo wú bǎo liú.
    This old professor tells his students everything he knows, holding nothing back.
  • ，知无不言，。
    Zuò wéi péng you, tā duì wǒ zhī wú bù yán, ràng wǒ hěn gǎn dòng.
    As a friend, he was completely open with me, which moved me deeply.

Origin

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

An early form of 知 showed 大 (adult), 口 (mouth), and 子 (child): an adult speaking to a child to pass on knowledge. The 子 part was dropped, and the 大 part changed shape.

Open 知 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

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 →

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 →

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