话到嘴边留三分
huà​dào​zuǐ​biān​liú​sān​fēn

[idiom] to think before you speak

  1. 话 話 huà noun
    speech
    spoken words; speech; talk; conversation; what someone says; something said
  2. 到 dào verbpreposition
    to arrive
    to arrive at a place; to reach a point in time; to reach a certain level or stage
  3. 嘴边 嘴邊 zuǐ​biān noun
    edge of the mouth
    the area around or at the side of the mouth
  4. 留 liú verb
    to keep
    To keep, save, or reserve something for a specific person or purpose.
  5. 三分 sān​fēn noun
    thirty percent
    three-tenths of the whole