费话 (fèi huà) — to waste words; to talk nonsense; to say irrelevant things

Definition

费话 is a colloquial verb meaning 'to waste words' — nagging or rambling instead of getting to the point. Unlike 废话 (noun, 'nonsense/trivial talk'), 费话 emphasizes the act of speaking uselessly and is only spoken.

verb
to waste wordsto talk nonsenseto say irrelevant things
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，！
    Nǐ fèi shén me huà, zhí jiē shuō zhòng diǎn!
    What nonsense are you talking? Just get to the point!
  • 费话，。
    Bié fèi huà le, kuài zǒu ba.
    Stop wasting words, let's go.
  • 费话，。
    Tā zǒng ài fèi huà, méi rén xiǎng tīng.
    He always likes to talk nonsense; no one wants to listen.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

费fèiwaste
话huàwords

费 (waste) and 话 (words) together mean wasting words.

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 費; 费 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
弗
弗fú費fèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 費 has 貝, a cowry shell, and 弗, which gives a sound; the simplified 费 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 费 →

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.

Open 话 →

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