老生常谈 Commonplace remarks
Explanation
老生常谈，指人们听惯了的没有新鲜意思的话。
Commonplace remarks, referring to things that people are accustomed to hearing and have no fresh meaning.
Origin Story
三国时期，魏国著名的占卜师管辂，精通《易经》，善于占卜，深得人心。一次，魏国的大臣何晏和邓飏请管辂为他们算命，问他们何时才能升到三公之位。管辂知道这两人都是不安分的臣子，如果说出不利于他们的预言，势必会遭到他们的报复，所以他也不敢胡说八道。于是，管辂便故作玄虚，用很老套的说辞，劝说他们要做好官，要体察民情，要施恩德，要忠于职守，才能最终获得升迁的机会。邓飏听后很不高兴地说：“这些都是老生常谈的东西，我们都知道，你能不能说点新鲜的？”管辂笑着说：“这些老生常谈，正是做官之道啊！”后来，何晏和邓飏因为贪婪无度，最终并没有升迁到三公之位。
During the Three Kingdoms period, Guan Lu, a famous fortune teller from the Wei Kingdom, was proficient in the Book of Changes and was a good fortune teller, deeply loved by the people. Once, He Yan and Deng Yang, the high-ranking ministers of the Wei Kingdom, asked Guan Lu to tell their fortunes, asking when they would be promoted to the position of the Three High Officials. Guan Lu knew that these two men were restless officials, and if he made unfavorable predictions, he would surely fear their retaliation, so he did not dare to talk nonsense. So, Guan Lu pretended to be mysterious, used very clichéd words, and persuaded them to be good officials, to understand the needs of the people, to be merciful, to be loyal to their duties, and so on, in order to finally get promoted. Deng Yang was unhappy after hearing this and said, “These are all clichés, we know that, can you say something new?” Guan Lu smiled and said, “These clichés are exactly the way to be an official!” Later, He Yan and Deng Yang, due to their greed, did not eventually get promoted to the Three High Officials.
Usage
在表达意见或想法时，如果观点陈旧、缺乏新意，就可以用“老生常谈”来形容。例如，在会议上，有人提出了一些没有新意的建议，就可以说：“他说的都是老生常谈，没什么新意。”
When expressing an opinion or idea, if the viewpoint is outdated and lacks originality, it can be described as
Examples
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他对这个问题的看法老生常谈，毫无新意。
lǎo shēng cháng tán
His views on this issue are commonplace and unoriginal.
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领导讲话老生常谈，大家都听腻了。
lǐng dǎo jiǎng huà lǎo shēng cháng tán
The leader's speech was commonplace, everyone was tired of listening.