说东道西 Talk about this and that
Explanation
形容漫无边际，随意地谈论各种事情。
Describes a conversation that jumps from one topic to another without a central theme.
Origin Story
老张是个热心肠的人，喜欢和街坊邻居聊天。有一天，他碰见了老王，两人就聊开了。老张先说自己家的菜长得如何茂盛，接着又聊到最近小区里发生的趣事，然后又谈到了他孙子的学习情况，最后还讲起了他去菜市场买菜的经历。老王听得云里雾里，最后忍不住说道：“老张，你今天怎么这么爱说东道西啊？”老张哈哈一笑，说：“这不是闲聊嘛，随便说说，开心就好。”
Old Zhang was a warm-hearted man who liked to chat with his neighbors. One day, he met Old Wang, and the two began to talk. Old Zhang first talked about how lush his vegetables were growing, then about the interesting things that had happened recently in the community, then about his grandson's studies, and finally about his experience buying vegetables at the market. Old Wang was completely confused and finally said, “Old Zhang, why are you rambling on so much today?” Old Zhang laughed and said, “It's just casual conversation, just chatting, it's good to be happy.”
Usage
用于形容说话漫无边际，没有中心思想。
Used to describe someone talking about various topics without a central theme or point.
Examples
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他总是说东道西，让人难以捉摸他的真实想法。
ta zongshi shuo dong dao xi,rang ren nan yi zhuomo ta de zhenshi xiangfa.
He always talks about this and that, making it difficult to grasp his true intentions.
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这篇文章说东道西，缺乏中心思想。
zhe pian wen zhang shuo dong dao xi,quefan zhongxin sixiang
This article jumps from one topic to another, lacking a central theme.