📖 Meaning
A very small number of words; just a few sentences. It describes expressing or explaining something briefly, often implying that so few words are insufficient to fully convey the matter.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the classical Chinese novel 'Yu Jiao Li' (《玉娇梨》), a popular romance novel from the late Ming to early Qing dynasty. In Chapter 2, a father worries that his son lacks genuine talent and that his inadequacy would be exposed in just a few words of conversation. The phrase thus came to denote a scant few remarks that reveal or decide something. It was later used by modern writers such as Mao Dun in his correspondence.
💡 Example Usage
事情的来龙去脉，不是一言两语能说清楚的。
The whole story of what happened cannot be made clear in just a few words.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 一言两语
- Pinyin: yī yán liǎng yǔ
- Literal Translation: one, word, two, words
- Category: Communication
- Characters: 4