老生常谭 — “Old scholar's common talk”
老生常谭 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “refers to commonplace remarks or truisms that people have heard so many times they no longer offer anything new or fresh; a stale old cliché”. Literally, “old scholar's common talk”.
老生常谭 Pronunciation and Pinyin
老生常谭 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 老生常谭
Origin and Story of 老生常谭
During the Three Kingdoms period, Guan Lu, a diviner from the Wei Kingdom, was highly skilled in the I Ching. He Yan and Deng Yang, both high-ranking officials, asked Guan Lu to predict when they would ascend to the position of the Three Ducal Ministers.
Guan Lu, not daring to offend them, examined the divination hexagrams. He then offered them a general lecture, advising He Yan to be loyal to his duties, understand the people's sentiments, and widely bestow kindness, stating that only then could he achieve the rank of a Ducal Minister.
Deng Yang was displeased, remarking, "This is just old scholar's common talk (老生常谈)."
Idioms Related to 老生常谭
Synonyms of 老生常谭
More idioms starting with 老
- lǎo老bù不xiǎo晓shì事old and muddled
- lǎo老zhī之jiāng将zhì至old age is approaching
- lǎo老yú于shì世gù故worldly-wise and experienced
- lǎo老sēng僧rù入dìng定deeply absorbed and still
- lǎo老bā八bèi辈zi子extremely old-fashioned
- lǎo老yī医shǎo少bo卜Each has their own strengths
- lǎo老gǔ古bǎn板an old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud
- lǎo老gǔ古dǒng董old-fashioned person or thing
- lǎo老wú吾lǎo老yǐ以jí及rén人zhī之lǎo老Respect all elders as your own
- lǎo老dà大tú徒shāng伤Regret wasted youth in old age
- lǎo老dà大tú徒shāng伤bēi悲lament wasted youth in old age
- lǎo老dà大wú无chéng成grow old without achieving anything
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Open the tool →Questions about 老生常谭
What does 老生常谭 mean?
老生常谭 (lǎo shēng cháng tán) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “refers to commonplace remarks or truisms that people have heard so many times they no longer offer anything new or fresh; a stale old cliché”.
How do you pronounce 老生常谭?
老生常谭 is pronounced lǎo shēng cháng tán in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 老生常谭 literally mean?
Literally, 老生常谭 means “old scholar's common talk”. It is used to mean “refers to commonplace remarks or truisms that people have heard so many times they no longer offer anything new or fresh; a stale old cliché”.
Where does 老生常谭 come from?
老生常谭 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 老生常谭?
谭：同“谈”。指年老书生的平凡议论。比喻人们听惯了的没有新意的话