谈笑风生 (tán xiào fēng shēng) — to talk cheerfully and humorously; to engage in lively and witty conversation

Definition

Literally 'talk, laugh, wind, rise' — an idiom meaning a person chats and jokes so easily it seems to put wind in the air, painting a vivid, relaxed social scene. Often used for speakers or hosts whose conversation is warm and witty.

idiom
to talk cheerfully and humorouslyto engage in lively and witty conversation

Examples

  • 谈笑风生，。
    Tā men zuò zài chá guǎn lǐ tán xiào fēng shēng, qì fen fēi cháng qīng sōng.
    They sat in the teahouse talking cheerfully, the atmosphere was very relaxed.
  • 谈笑风生，。
    Zhè wèi jiào shòu zài wǎn huì shàng tán xiào fēng shēng, xī yǐn le suǒ yǒu rén de zhù yì.
    This professor talked cheerfully at the party, attracting everyone's attention.
  • ，谈笑风生。
    Lǎo péng you jiàn miàn, zǒng shì miǎn bù liǎo tán xiào fēng shēng yì fān.
    When old friends meet, they inevitably engage in lively conversation.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

谈笑talk and laugh
谈tántalk笑xiàolaugh
联合Side by side
风生wind arises
风fēngwind生shēngarise
主谓Subject + predicate

In 谈笑风生, 谈 and 笑 give cheerful conversation, while 风 and 生 suggest a lively charm arising like wind.

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 談; 谈 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
炎
炎yán談tán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 谈, the traditional form 談 pairs 言 (speech) with 炎 (yán) as the sound part.

Open 谈 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
艸
艸cǎo笑xiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Open 笑 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →

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