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胡说八道 (hú shuō bā dào) — to talk nonsense; sheer rubbish, baloney

Definition

A strong, colloquial idiom for 'talk nonsense' — describes both the act of speaking nonsense and the nonsense itself. Stronger and more vivid than plain 乱说.

verb
to talk nonsensesheer rubbishbaloney

Examples

  • 胡说八道，。
    Tā zǒng shì zài hú shuō bā dào, méi rén xiāng xìn tā de huà.
    He's always talking nonsense; nobody believes what he says.
  • 胡说八道，。
    Bié hú shuō bā dào le, shuō diǎn zhòng yào de shì.
    Stop talking nonsense and say something important.
  • 胡说八道，。
    Zhè piān wén zhāng wán quán shì hú shuō bā dào, yì diǎn gēn jù dōu méi yǒu.
    This article is complete rubbish — there's no basis at all.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

胡说reckless talk
胡húreckless说shuōspeak
偏正Modifier + head
八道eight ways
八bāeight道dàoway
偏正Modifier + head

胡说 “reckless talk” and 八道 “eight ways” together mean talk nonsense.

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.

Open 胡 →

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 說; 说 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
兌
兌duì說shuō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 說 pairs 言 (meaning) with 兌 (sound); the simplified 说 is not the form described here.

Open 说 →

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

八 shows two bent lines, indicating the original meaning 'to divide'; it was later used for 'eight' because the words sounded alike.

Open 八 →

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
行行xíngstreet
止止zhǐfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
𩠐
首shǒu道dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Open 道 →
Appears in
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