谈天说地 (tán tiān shuō dì) — to talk about everything under the sun; to have a wide-ranging chat

Definition

An idiom meaning to chat freely about any topic, with no fixed subject. Close in meaning to 聊天, but 谈天说地 sounds more literary and emphasizes the wide, casual range of topics.

idiom
to talk about everything under the sunto have a wide-ranging chat

Examples

  • ，谈天说地。
    Lǎo péng you jiàn miàn, zuì ài tán tiān shuō dì.
    Old friends meeting each other love to chat about everything.
  • 谈天说地，。
    Wǒ men yì biān hē chá yì biān tán tiān shuō dì, liáo le liǎng gè xiǎo shí.
    We chatted about everything while drinking tea, and talked for two hours.
  • 谈天说地，。
    Tā men zuò zài gōng yuán de cháng yǐ shàng tán tiān shuō dì, bù zhī bù jué tiān dū hēi le.
    They sat on a park bench chatting about everything, and before they knew it, it was dark.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

谈天talk of heaven
谈tántalk天tiānheaven
动宾Verb + object
说地talk of earth
说shuōsay地dìearth
动宾Verb + object

谈天 and 说地 combine talk about heaven and talk about earth, suggesting a chat that ranges widely.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
炎
炎yán談tán
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.

Open 谈 →

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
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →

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 →

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
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
也
也yě地dì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

地 is built from 土 (earth) and 也, which gives its sound.

Open 地 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.