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二话不说 (èr huà bù shuō) — without any further ado; immediately and without hesitation

Definition

A chengyu meaning 'without a second thought, immediately' — emphasizes acting decisively with no hesitation, often followed by 就 to show instant action.

idiom
without any further adoimmediately and without hesitation

Examples

  • 二话不说。
    Tā èr huà bù shuō jiù dā ying le.
    He agreed without any hesitation.
  • ，二话不说。
    Kàn dào yǒu rén luò shuǐ, tā èr huà bù shuō tiào jìn le hé lǐ.
    Seeing someone fall into the water, he jumped into the river without a second thought.
  • 二话不说。
    Lǎo bǎn èr huà bù shuō jiù pī zhǔn le wǒ men de jì huà.
    The boss approved our plan immediately without wasting any time.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

二话two words
二èrtwo话huàwords
偏正Modifier + head
不说not say
不bùnot说shuōsay
偏正Modifier + head

二话 'two words' and 不说 'not say' mean without further words.

Characters in this word

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

二 is drawn as two parallel strokes, where the number of strokes shows the amount.

Open 二 →

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 →

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.

Open 不 →

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 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set Phrases

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