道聽塗說
Chinese
direction; way; method direction; way; method; road; path; principle; truth; reason; skill; Tao (of Taoism); a measure word; to say; to speak; to talk |
let; allow; listen let; allow; listen; hear; obey |
Alternative form of 途 (tú) | to speak; to say; persuade (politically) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (道聽塗說) | 道 | 聽 | 塗 | 說 | |
| simp. (道听涂说) | 道 | 听 | 涂 | 说 | |
| alternative forms | 道聽涂說／道听涂说 道聽途說／道听途说 道聽途説／道听途说 PRC standard | ||||
| Literally: “to tell, as one go along, what they have heard on the way”. | |||||
Etymology
From the Analects, Book 17 (《論語·陽貨》):
- 子曰：「道聽而塗說，德之棄也。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
- Zǐyuē: “Dào tīng ér tú shuō, dé zhī qì yě.” [Pinyin]
- The Master said, "To tell, as we go along, what we have heard on the way, is to cast away our virtue."
子曰：「道听而涂说，德之弃也。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
Idiom
道聽塗說
- rumor; hearsay
- 世上最可笑的是那些「知識裡手」，有了道聽塗說的一知半解，便自封為「天下第一」，適足見其不自量而已。 [MSC, trad.]
- From: 1937, 毛澤東 (Mao Zedong), 《實踐論》 (On Practice), 《毛澤東選集》. English translation based on the Foreign Languages Press edition
- Shìshàng zuì kěxiào de shì nàxiē “zhīshi lǐshǒu”, yǒu le dàotīngtúshuō de yīzhībànjiě, biàn zìfēng wéi “tiānxiàdìyī”, shì zújiàn qí bùzìliàng éryǐ. [Pinyin]
- The most ridiculous person in the world is the “know all” who picks up a smattering of hearsay knowledge and proclaims themselves “the world's Number One authority”; this merely shows that they have not taken a proper measure of themselves.
世上最可笑的是那些「知识里手」，有了道听涂说的一知半解，便自封为「天下第一」，适足见其不自量而已。 [MSC, simp.]
Descendants
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