📖 Meaning
Describes someone who speaks in an exaggerated, grandiose manner that is detached from practical reality. It conveys that the speaker makes impressive-sounding but ultimately empty or impractical claims, showing off without substance.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom traces back to Chapter 11 of 'The Scholars' (儒林外史) by Wu Jingzi of the Qing Dynasty. In the scene, a character enters the study and hears Yang Zhizhong talking at length inside, already aware of his arrival. The expression captures the image of a person speaking boastfully and impractically, as if floating above real concerns. Over time it came to be used to describe anyone who talks big without grounding their words in reality.
💡 Example Usage
他在会上夸夸而谈，却没有提出任何实际的解决方案。
He talked boastfully at the meeting without proposing any practical solution.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 夸夸而谈
- Pinyin: kuā kuā ér tán
- Literal Translation: boast, boast, and, talk
- Category: Communication
- Characters: 4