耍嘴皮子 (shuǎ zuǐ pí zi) — to talk glibly; to brag; to pay lip service (wi…

Definition

A colloquial, mildly disparaging phrase meaning to talk smoothly or brag without doing anything — empty words with no real action behind them.

verb

to talk gliblyto bragto pay lip service (without action)

耍嘴皮子，。
Tā zuì ài shuǎ zuǐ pí zi, dàn cóng lái bú zuò shí shì.
He loves to talk glibly but never does anything real.
？。
Nǐ shuǎ shén me zuǐ pí zi? yǒu běn shì jiù zuò chū lái kàn kàn.
What are you blabbing about? If you've got the skill, show us what you can do.
，。
Tā shuǎ le yì tōng zuǐ pí zi, jié guǒ shén me yě méi zuò chéng.
He did a lot of glib talking, but in the end he didn't accomplish anything.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

口觜嘴

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

觜

觜zī嘴

Same sound today

嘴 pairs 口 (mouth) with 觜, which supplies its sound.

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

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Appears in