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废话 (fèi huà) — (noun) nonsense, rubbish, superfluous words; (verb) to talk nonsense

Definition

废话 is 'nonsense, rubbish' — usually for spoken words that say nothing useful. 胡说 is a closer match for outright lies or wild claims; 废物 means physical rubbish or (derogatory) a useless person.

noun
nonsenserubbishsuperfluous words
verb
to talk nonsense
Measure word · 句

Examples

  • 废话。
    Tā shuō de quán shì fèi huà.
    Everything he said was nonsense.
  • 废话，。
    Shǎo shuō fèi huà, kuài zuò zhèng shì.
    Stop talking nonsense and get down to business.
  • 废话，。
    Bié fèi huà le, kuài diǎn jué dìng ba.
    Stop talking nonsense and make a decision soon.

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.

废fèiuseless/discarded
话huàwords

“废” (useless/discarded) and “话” (words) combine to mean useless talk.

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 廢; 废 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
广广guǎnghouse
Sound part声符shēngfú
發
發fā廢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 廢 shows 广 as a house and 發 as the sound.

Open 废 →

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
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