平心而论 (píng xīn ér lún) — to be fair; to speak honestly without bias; (concessive phrase) in all fairness, give credit where due

Definition

A set phrase used to preface an honest, unbiased judgment — 'to be fair' or 'in all fairness.' It frames what follows as a balanced assessment, not a personal attack.

idiom
to be fairto speak honestly without bias(concessive phrase) in all fairnessgive credit where due

Examples

  • 平心而论，。
    píng xīn ér lún, Tā zhè cì de biǎo xiàn què shí bú cuò.
    To be fair, his performance this time was really not bad.
  • 平心而论，，。
    píng xīn ér lún, Zhè ge fāng àn suī rán yǒu wèn tí, dàn yōu diǎn yě bù shǎo.
    In all fairness, although this plan has problems, it also has quite a few advantages.
  • 平心而论，。
    píng xīn ér lún, Nǐ bù néng bǎ suǒ yǒu zé rèn dōu tuī gěi tā yí gè rén.
    To be fair, you can't put all the blame on him alone.

Origin

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The origin is uncertain. One explanation combines 八 (division) and 亏 (exhaled air) to show smooth speech.

Open 平 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 而 is a picture of a beard.

Open 而 →

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 論; 论 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánsay
Sound part声符shēngfú
侖
侖lún論lùn
Same sound today

The traditional form 論 pairs 言 (“say”) with 侖 as a sound component; the simplified 论 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 论 →

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