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滔滔不绝 (tāo tāo bù jué) — (idiom) to talk non-stop; to speak at great length without pause; an endless flow of words

Definition

Used for talking — a person speaks without pause, often at length. Unlike 没完没了 (any ongoing nuisance) and 源源不断/川流不息/络绎不绝 (describe streams of things or people), 滔滔不绝 is specifically about words pouring out.

idiom
to talk non-stopto speak at great length without pausean endless flow of words

Examples

  • 滔滔不绝。
    Tā yì liáo qǐ zú qiú jiù tāo tāo bù jué.
    Once he starts talking about football, he goes on and on.
  • 滔滔不绝，。
    Tā zài tái shàng tāo tāo bù jué dì jiǎng le yí gè xiǎo shí, tīng zhòng dōu rù mí le.
    She spoke non-stop on stage for an hour, and the audience was captivated.
  • 滔滔不绝，。
    Lǎo shī pī píng tā shàng kè zǒng shì tāo tāo bù jué liáo tiān, yǐng xiǎng bié rén.
    The teacher criticized him for always chatting non-stop in class and disturbing others.

Origin

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 滔 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 滔 →

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 絕; 绝 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 絕, 刀 (knife) and 幺 (silk) show a knife cutting silk threads. The simplified 绝 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original picture.

Open 绝 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Communication & SpeechIdioms & Set Phrases

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