源etymfun
About

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.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

胡言亂語

/xu³⁵ jɛn³⁵ lu̯än⁵¹ y²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
to talk nonsense; to drivel; drivel; nonsense; gibberish; double Dutch
  • 胡言乱语
Post Share

Etymology graph

  • inherited
  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
React Flow
Press enter or space to select a node. You can then use the arrow keys to move the node around. Press delete to remove it and escape to cancel.
Press enter or space to select an edge. You can then press delete to remove it or escape to cancel.

點擊節點放大 · Click a node to zoom in

The phrase describes speech that lacks order or basis, much like the chaotic swirl of scattered papers in a quiet room.
The phrase describes speech that lacks order or basis, much like the chaotic swirl of scattered papers in a quiet room.

Origin

The phrase 胡言亂語 refers to speaking without basis or order, meaning to talk nonsense, drivel, or gibberish.

The phrase is composed of four characters. 胡 (wattle; dewlap) contains the semantic component 肉 (meat; flesh) and the phonetic component 古 (the past; ancient times). It is a simplified form of both 鬍 (beard; moustache; whiskers), which uses the semantic component 髟 (drooping of long hair) and the phonetic component 胡, and 衚 (used only in 衚衕／胡同), which uses the semantic component 行 (to walk) and the phonetic component 胡.

言 (to say; to speak; to talk) combines with 亂 (disorderly; messy; chaotic), which features the semantic component 乙 (the second of the ten heavenly stems) and the phonetic component 𤔔 (to govern). Finally, 語 (to speak; to say) uses the semantic component 言 (to say; to speak; to talk) and the phonetic component 吾 (I), which contains the semantic component 口 (mouth) and the phonetic component 五 (five).

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

這個詞由四個字組成。胡字的原意是指動物頭部或頸部垂下的肉垂（wattle; dewlap），其字形包含表示肉或肉類的「肉」作為語義成分，以及「古」作為音符。胡字也是「鬍」（鬍鬚）與「衚」（僅用於「衚衕／胡同」）的簡化形式。

其餘三個字分別為：言，意為說話；亂，意為混亂、無秩序，其字形由表示「乙」的語義成分與「𤔔」作為音符組成；語，意為說話，由表示說話的「言」作為語義成分，以及「吾」作為音符組成。

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

Lineage

  • characterChinese胡 “wattle; dewlap (fleshy lobe hanging from the head or neck of animals)”
    • simplified fromChinese衚 “only used in 衚衕／胡同 (hútòng)”
      • meaningChinese行 “to walk”
        • componentChinese彳 “to walk slowly”
        • componentChinese亍 “to stop; to stand still”
    • simplified fromChinese鬍 “beard; moustache; whiskers”
      • meaningChinese髟 “drooping of long hair”
    • soundChinese古 “the past; ancient times”
    • meaningChinese肉 “meat; flesh”
  • characterChinese言 “to say; to speak; to talk”
  • characterChinese亂 “disorderly; messy; chaotic”
    • soundChinese𤔔 “to govern”
      • ideaChinese糸 “thin silk”
      • ideaChinese冂 “city outskirts; suburbs”
      • ideaChinese𠬪 “to give”
        • ideaChinese爪 “claw (of animal, bird); talon; paw; nail”
        • ideaChinese又 “again; once more”
    • meaningChinese乙 “The second of the ten heavenly stems (天干 (tiāngān))”
  • characterChinese語 “to speak; to say”
    • soundChinese吾 “I”
      • soundChinese五 “five”
      • meaningChinese口 “mouth, especially the lips and internal mouth cavity (Classifier: 把 c)”
Wiktionary etymology text

No etymology text yet. The graph shows what is known from the sources.

Meanings

phrase
  1. to talk nonsense; to drivel; drivel; nonsense; gibberish; double Dutch

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 沒有根據、條理的隨意說話。 例：他到處胡言亂語，總有一天會惹禍上身。

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

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 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