闲言碎语 xiányánsuìyǔ gossip

Explanation

指那些无聊的、没有价值的、与正事无关的闲话。

Refers to idle talk that is meaningless, valueless, and irrelevant to the main matter.

Origin Story

村子里住着一对老夫妻，老张和老李。老张为人正直，老李喜欢搬弄是非。一天，村里来了个算命先生，老李便四处散播闲言碎语，说算命先生会妖法，会害人。老张听说后，找到老李，耐心劝说，让他不要再散播谣言，以免误导乡亲。老李这才意识到自己错了，向大家赔礼道歉。从此以后，村里再也没有人听信老李的闲言碎语了，大家安居乐业，生活更加和谐。

cūnzi lǐ zhù zhe yī duì lǎo fū qī, lǎo zhāng hé lǎo lǐ. lǎo zhāng wéirén zhèngzhí, lǎo lǐ xǐhuan bānnòng shìfēi. yītiān, cūn lǐ lái le ge suànmìng xiānsheng, lǎo lǐ biàn sìchù sànbō xiányánsuìyǔ, shuō suànmìng xiānsheng huì yāofǎ, huì hài rén. lǎo zhāng tīngshuō hòu, zhǎodào lǎo lǐ, nàixīn quánshuō, ràng tā bùyào zài sànbō yáoyán, yǐmiǎn wùdǎo xiāngqīn. lǎo lǐ cái zhè cìshí dào zìjǐ cuò le, xiàng dàjiā péilǐdàoqiàn. cóngcǐ yǐhòu, cūn lǐ zài yě méiyǒu rén tīngxìn lǎo lǐ de xiányánsuìyǔ le, dàjiā ānjūlèyè, shēnghuó gèngjiā héxié.

In a village lived an old couple, Zhang and Li. Zhang was an upright man, while Li loved to spread gossip. One day, a fortune teller came to the village, and Li spread rumors everywhere, saying the fortune teller had magic powers and would harm people. After hearing this, Zhang found Li and patiently persuaded him to stop spreading rumors, lest he mislead the villagers. Li then realized his mistake and apologized to everyone. From then on, no one in the village believed Li's gossip anymore, and everyone lived in peace and harmony.

Usage

用来形容无意义的闲谈，多含贬义。

yòng lái xiángróng wú yìyì de xiántán, duō hán biǎnyì

Used to describe meaningless idle chatter, often with a derogatory connotation.

Examples

• 大街上到处都是闲言碎语，真烦人。

  dàjiē shàng dàochù dōushì xiányánsuìyǔ, zhēn fánrén.

  There's so much gossip on the street, it's really annoying.

• 别听那些闲言碎语，做好自己的事情就行。

  bié tīng nàxiē xiányánsuìyǔ, zuò hǎo zìjǐ de shìqíng jiùxíng

  Don't listen to all that gossip, just do your own thing well.

Related Idioms

• 流言蜚语

• 风言风语

Opposite Idioms

• 正言正论

• 真知灼见