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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

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Chinese

直言不諱

/ʈ͡ʂɻ̩³⁵ jɛn³⁵ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ xu̯eɪ̯⁵¹/
to call a spade a spade; to speak without reservation; not to mince one's words
  • 直言不讳
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The phrase describes speaking in a straight, undeviating manner without avoiding or hiding the truth.
The phrase describes speaking in a straight, undeviating manner without avoiding or hiding the truth.

Origin

The phrase is composed of the characters 直 (straight; linear; undeviating), 言 (to say; to speak; to talk), 不 (not), and 諱 (to avoid mentioning). The character 諱 is formed with the semantic component 言 (to say) and the phonetic component 韋 (tanned leather). The character 韋 consists of the components 囗 (box, enclosure) and 舛 (to be opposed to; to be contrary to; to deviate from), which itself contains 夊 (of going, slow) and 𡕒.

VI (《卜居》), which is attributed to the poet Qu Yuan and included in Guwen Guanzhi. While the work Yanzi Chunqiu contains a similar phrase, 出言不諱, it is not as famous as the version from the Book of Odes. In this context, 直 and 正 are considered parasynonymous.

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

直言不諱是由「直」、「言」、「不」、「諱」四個字組成。其中「直」包含「目」與「丨」兩個部分，意指正直、線性的；「言」意指說話；「不」表示否定；「諱」則由表示說話的「言」作為語義組成部分，並以「韋」作為音符，而「韋」由「囗」與「舛」組成，其中「舛」包含「夊」與「𡕒」兩個部分，意指相反或偏離。

這個成語更有可能出自《詩經·第六卷〈卜居〉》，該文本被收錄於《古文觀止》，並被歸於詩人屈原名下。雖然《嚴子春秋》中也有類似的「出言不諱」一詞，但其知名度不如前者。此外，「直」與「正」在意義上具有同義關係。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • characterChinese直 “straight; linear; undeviating”
    • ideaChinese目 “eye (Classifier: 雙／双 mn-t)”
    • ideaChinese丨 “To connect vertically; to pass through from top to bottom.”
  • characterChinese言 “to say; to speak; to talk”
  • characterChinese不 “not; un-; in-; il-; im-; ir-”
  • characterChinese諱 “to avoid mentioning”
    • soundChinese韋 “tanned leather”
      • ideaChinese舛 “to be opposed to; to be contrary to; to deviate from”
        • ideaChinese夊 “of going, slow”
        • ideaChinese𡕒
      • ideaChinese囗 “box, enclosure”
Wiktionary etymology text

More likely from the Book of Odes, Vol. VI (《卜居》):

:

Note that although the contemporary work Yanzi Chunqiu also has a similar phrase 出言不諱, it is still not as famous as the text quoted above, which was not only attributed to the great poet Qu Yuan but included in Guwen Guanzhi, too. Also, 正 (zhèng) and 直 (zhí) are parasynonymous.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

phrase
  1. to call a spade a spade; to speak without reservation; not to mince one's words

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 直述其事，無所避諱。 例：如果對這件事有意見，請大家直言不諱。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 直言不諱