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闲扯 (xián chě) — to chat, to engage in chitchat

Definition

闲扯 (xián chě) is a colloquial verb for aimless, idle chat about trivial things. It implies the content is unimportant — stronger than 聊天 (general chatting) and more casual than 谈话 (a purposeful talk).

verb
to chatto engage in chitchat

Examples

  • 闲扯，。
    Wǒ men bié xián chě le, kuài kāi shǐ gōng zuò ba.
    Let's stop chatting and start working.
  • 闲扯。
    Tā men liǎ zài kā fēi tīng xián chě le yí xià wǔ.
    The two of them chatted away the whole afternoon at the café.
  • 闲扯。
    Tā xǐ huan gēn péng you xián chě yì xiē xiǎo shì.
    He likes to chat with friends about trivial matters.

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.

闲xiánidle
扯chětalk casually

闲 means idle and 扯 means to talk casually; together they mean idle chatting.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 閒; 闲 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 閒 puts 月 (moon) inside 門 (door), as if moonlight peeks through a door; this picture gives the idea of a gap or space. The simplified 闲 is a later abbreviation.

Open 闲 →

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
止
止zhǐ扯chě
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

扯 has 手 (hand) and 止; the hand part shows it is about hand actions, while 止 gives the sound.

Open 扯 →
Appears in
Communication & Speech

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