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坏话 (huài huà) — malicious talk, slander

Definition

坏话 refers specifically to spoken malicious talk about someone — typically paired with 说 to mean 'speak ill of'. Less common is 闲话, which is gossip in general rather than deliberately harmful talk.

noun
malicious talkslander
Measure word · 句

Examples

  • 坏话。
    Tā zǒng zài bèi hòu shuō wǒ de huài huà.
    He always speaks ill of me behind my back.
  • 坏话。
    Bú yào tīng xìn bié rén de huài huà.
    Don't believe the malicious talk of others.
  • 坏话。
    Gōng sī lǐ liú chuán zhe hěn duō guān yú tā de huài huà.
    There are many bad rumors about him circulating in the company.

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.

坏huàibad
话huàtalk

坏 means bad, and 话 means talk, so 坏话 is bad talk about someone.

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 壞; 坏 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
褱
褱huái壞huài
Same sound today

For the traditional form 壞, 土 (earth) is the meaning part and 褱 supplies the sound; earth is used because something that rots eventually becomes earth. This is about 壞, not the simplified 坏.

Open 坏 →

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 →
Appears in
Communication & SpeechConflict & Agreement

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