谈不上 (tán bu shàng) — cannot be considered as; far from; not even clo…

Definition

A 离合 verb meaning 'cannot really be called / far from' — used to downgrade a claim (e.g. 谈不上好, 谈不上熟). It negates the label, not the existence.

verb

cannot be considered asfar fromnot even close to being

谈不上，。
Tā de shuǐ píng tán bu shàng hǎo, zhǐ shì néng dǒng yì diǎn.
His level can hardly be called good — he only understands a little.
谈不上，。
Wǒ gēn tā tán bu shàng hěn shú, zhǐ jiàn guò yí cì miàn.
I can't say I know her well; I've only met her once.
谈不上，。
Tā lián jī běn tiáo jiàn dōu tán bu shàng, gèng bié tí chū sè le.
He doesn't even meet the basic requirements, let alone being outstanding.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 談; 谈 is its simplified writing.

言炎談

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánspeech

Sound part声符shēngfú

炎

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

For 谈, the traditional form 談 pairs 言 (speech) with 炎 (yán) as the sound part.

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.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

上 is drawn as a short horizontal line placed above a longer arc, marking a position above that arc.