贫嘴 (pín zuǐ) — (colloquial) garrulous, loquacious; talkative in a bothersome or trivial way

Definition

A negative adjective meaning someone talks too much in a trivial, annoying way — sharper than just 'talkative' and implies the chatter is pointless or bothersome.

adjective
(colloquial) garrulousloquacioustalkative in a bothersome or trivial way

Examples

  • 贫嘴，。
    Tā zhè ge rén tài pín zuǐ le, yì shuō qǐ huà lái jiù méi wán méi liǎo.
    He's way too talkative – once he starts talking, he just won't stop.
  • 贫嘴，。
    Bié nà me pín zuǐ, méi rén xiǎng tīng nǐ shuō zhè xiē fèi huà.
    Don't be so long-winded – nobody wants to hear that nonsense.
  • ，贫嘴。
    Dà jiā dōu xiào tā pín, shuō tā zhè zhāng pín zuǐ zuǐ gǎi bù liǎo.
    Everyone laughs at his chatter, saying that talkative mouth of his can't be changed.

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.

贫pínglib
嘴zuǐmouth

贫 (glib) and 嘴 (mouth) together mean someone who talks too much.

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 貧; 贫 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèimoney
Sound part声符shēngfú
分
分fēn貧pín
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 貧 has 分 above 貝, a money part. 分 gives the sound and means 'divide', giving the image of dividing one's money; the simplified 贫 is a later shorthand.

Open 贫 →

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
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
觜
觜zī嘴
Same sound today

嘴 pairs 口 (mouth) with 觜, which supplies its sound.

Open 嘴 →

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