Chinese word

絮叨

Pronunciation

Pinyinxù dāo

Meaning

  • verbnag

Example

别絮叨了，我们快走吧。bié xù dāo le wǒ men kuài zǒu ba

Don't keep going on; let's go.

Illustration for 絮叨 (nag)

More examples

他常常为小事絮叨，家人建议他改掉这个习惯。tā cháng cháng wèi xiǎo shì xù dāo jiā rén jiàn yì tā gǎi diào zhè ge xí guàn

He often nags about small things, so his family advises him to break the habit.

Core concept

Speech spills out in loose, tangled strands of small details and keeps going.

Common phrases

  • 跟父母絮叨gēn fù mǔ xù dāo

    nag at one's parents

  • 絮叨个没完xù dāo gè méi wán

    keep nagging endlessly

  • 反复向别人絮叨fǎn fù xiàng bié rén xù dāo

    keep nagging others

Similar words

唠叨láo dāo: To repeat the same thing so often that listeners feel annoyed.
啰嗦luō suo: To ramble on with extra details instead of stating the main point clearly.
絮絮不休xù xù bù xiū: To continue talking endlessly about small details without stopping.
碎碎念suì suì niàn: To mutter repeatedly about little things.

Definition in Chinese

反复啰嗦地说话，内容多为琐碎细节fǎn fù luō suo dì shuō huà nèi róng duō wèi suǒ suì xì jié

Word origin

絮 (xù, "cotton fluff") + 叨 (dāo, "keep talking") joins the image of loose fibers with persistent speech to form this compound.

Usage tips

  • This verb usually sounds critical because it describes talk as repetitive and trivial, so it is stronger than merely saying that someone talks for a long time.

Other meanings

  • grumbleverb
  • talk endlesslyverb

Word lists with this word