咬文嚼字 yǎo wén jiáo zì chew over words

Explanation

形容过分地斟酌字句，多指死扣字眼而不注意精神实质。

Describes the excessive consideration of words and sentences, often focusing on individual words and neglecting the overall meaning.

Origin Story

王小明是一个非常认真刻苦的学生，他学习的时候总是仔细推敲每一个字词，生怕漏掉任何细节。一次，老师布置了一篇作文，题目是《我的家乡》。王小明认真地搜集资料，反复修改，最终写出了一篇优秀的作文。但是，他仍然觉得不够完美，不断地咬文嚼字，修改每一个词语的顺序和搭配，甚至连标点符号都反复斟酌。结果，他花了整整一个星期才完成这篇作文，而其他同学早已轻松地完成了作业。老师看到王小明如此认真，虽然赞赏他的态度，但也提醒他要注意效率和整体效果，不要被细节所束缚。

wáng xiǎomíng shì yīgè fēicháng rènzhēn kèkǔ de xuésheng, tā xuéxí de shíhòu zǒngshì zǐxì tuīqiāo měi yīgè zìcí, shēng pà lòudiào rènhé xìjié。yī cì, lǎoshī bùzhì le yī piān zuòwén, tímù shì《wǒ de jiāxiāng》。wáng xiǎomíng rènzhēn de sōují zīliào, fǎnfù xiūgǎi, zuìzhōng xiě chū le yī piān yōuxiù de zuòwén。dànshì, tā réngrán juéde bùgòu wánměi, bùduàn de yǎo wén jiáo zì, xiūgǎi měi yīgè cíyǔ de shùnxù hé dà pèi, shènzhì lián biāodiǎn fúhào dōu fǎnfù zhēnchóu。jiéguǒ, tā huā le zhěngzhěng yīgè xīngqī cái wánchéng zhè piān zuòwén, ér qítā tóngxué záoyǐ qīngsōng de wánchéng le zuòyè。lǎoshī kàn dào wáng xiǎomíng rúcǐ rènzhēn, suīrán zànshǎng tā de tàidu, dàn yě tíxǐng tā yào zhùyì xiàolǜ hé zhěngtǐ xiàoguǒ, bù yào bèi xìjié suǒ shùfú。

Xiaoming was a very diligent student. When studying, he always carefully scrutinized every word and phrase, afraid of missing any detail. Once, the teacher assigned an essay on 'My Hometown.' Xiaoming carefully collected information and revised his essay repeatedly, eventually writing an excellent essay. However, he still felt it wasn't perfect and kept nitpicking, changing the order and combination of each word, even repeatedly deliberating over punctuation marks. As a result, it took him a whole week to complete the essay, while other students had easily finished their assignments. The teacher, while praising Xiaoming's diligence, also reminded him to pay attention to efficiency and the overall effect, and not to be bound by details.

Usage

常用来形容对文字过分苛求，不注意精神实质。

cháng yòng lái xíngróng duì wénzì guòfèn kēqiú, bù zhùyì jīngshen shízhi。

Often used to describe the excessive attention to details in text, without regard to the overall meaning.

Examples

  • 他学习非常认真，甚至到了咬文嚼字的地步。

    tā xuéxí fēicháng rènzhēn, shènzhì dàole yǎo wén jiáo zì de dìbù。

    He studies very seriously, even to the point of nitpicking.

  • 这篇论文写得很好，没有咬文嚼字的地方。

    zhè piān lùnwén xiě de hěn hǎo, méiyǒu yǎo wén jiáo zì de dìfang。

    This paper is well-written, without any nitpicking.

Related Idioms

  • 字斟句酌

  • 推敲

Opposite Idioms

  • 一目十行

  • 走马观花

  • 粗枝大叶