支支吾吾 (zhī zhī wú wú) — to be evasive; to hem and haw; to mumble inarti…

Definition

A vivid onomatopoeic phrase meaning to hem and haw, mumble evasively, or stall when answering. Used like an adverb (说话支支吾吾的) or a verb (他支支吾吾了半天).

bound form

to be evasiveto hem and hawto mumble inarticulately

Examples

支支吾吾，。
Tā shuō huà zhī zhī wú wú de, kěn dìng yǒu shì mán zhe wǒ men.
He's hemming and hawing — he must be hiding something from us.
，支支吾吾。
Lǎo shī wèn tā wèi shén me méi jiāo zuò yè, tā zhī zhī wú wú le bàn tiān.
The teacher asked why he didn't hand in his homework, and he hemmed and hawed for a long time.
支支吾吾，。
Bié zhī zhī wú wú de, zhí jiē gào sù wǒ zhēn xiàng.
Stop beating around the bush and tell me the truth directly.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

支支

支zhī支zhī

吾吾

吾wú吾wú

The doubled 支 and 吾 create a halting, evasive way of speaking.

Characters in this word

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

又十支

又又yòuhand
十竹zhú(half of {{zh-l|*竹}}) branch of bamboo

支 pairs 又 (hand) with 十, a shortened form of 竹 (bamboo), to picture a bamboo branch.

Open 支 →

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

又十支

又又yòuhand
十竹zhú(half of {{zh-l|*竹}}) branch of bamboo

支 pairs 又 (hand) with 十, a shortened form of 竹 (bamboo), to picture a bamboo branch.

Open 支 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

五口吾

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

五

五wǔ吾wú

Same sound today

吾 is built from 口, a mouth, and 五, which gives its sound.

Open 吾 →