话到嘴边留三分
huà​dào​zuǐ​biān​liú​sān​fēn

[idiom] to think before you speak

  • created sense approved 话到嘴边留三分/話到嘴邊留三分 · huà​dào​zuǐ​biān​liú​sān​fēn · [idiom] to think before you speak — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    话到嘴边留三分 / 話到嘴邊留三分

    huà​dào​zuǐ​biān​liú​sān​fēn

    [idiom] to think before you speak

    A proverb advising one to keep some thoughts to oneself rather than speaking one's entire mind; literally 'when words reach the edge of the mouth, keep back thirty percent'

    话 (literal) → 话/話 · huà · speech 到 (literal) → 到 · dào · to arrive 嘴边 (literal) → 嘴边/嘴邊 · zuǐ​biān · edge of the mouth 留 (literal) → 留 · liú · to keep 三分 (literal) → 三分 · sān​fēn · thirty percent

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense