📖 Meaning
The meaning that lies beyond the literal words, the implied or underlying message that is hinted at indirectly rather than stated explicitly. It refers to what a speaker truly intends but leaves unspoken, requiring the listener to read between the lines.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the 'History of the Southern Dynasties' (南史), in the biography of Fan Ye (范晔), a historian and musician of the Liu Song dynasty (5th century) best known for compiling the 'Book of the Later Han'. Fan Ye, discussing the subtle pleasures of playing the lute, remarked that the charm of such music could not be fully expressed in words: 'the meaning beyond the strings, the resonance of empty sounds, one knows not whence they come.' The phrase thus came to describe meaning that is conveyed subtly and indirectly, beyond what is plainly said.
💡 Example Usage
他虽未明说，但弦外之意已很明显。
Although he did not say it directly, the implied meaning was already quite clear.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 弦外之意
- Pinyin: xián wài zhī yì
- Literal Translation: string, beyond, of, meaning
- Category: Communication
- Characters: 4