胡话 (hú huà) — wild talk; ravings; nonsense | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

胡话 is 'ravings / wild talk' — words that make no sense because the speaker is delirious, drunk, or lying. It implies the speaker is not in a normal, reliable state of mind.

noun

wild talkravingsnonsense

Examples

，胡话。
Tā fā gāo shāo, yì zhí zài shuō hú huà.
He has a high fever and keeps talking nonsense.
胡话，。
Bié xiāng xìn tā de hú huà, tā hē zuì le.
Don't believe his wild talk — he's drunk.
胡话，。
Bìng rén shuō de dōu shì hú huà, bú yòng dàng zhēn.
Everything the patient says is ravings; don't take it seriously.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

胡 means wild or nonsense, and 话 means talk, so together they mean wild talk.

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

⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat

Sound part声符shēngfú

古

古gǔ胡hú

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

胡 combines 古, which points to its sound, with ⺼ (肉), meaning meat or flesh.

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánword

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠯑

𠯑𠯑話huà

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

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Appears in

Communication & Speech

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