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一長一短

简一长一短 · 繁一長一短

Mandarin · pinyin yī cháng yī duǎn

(idiom) talking endlessly; long-winded

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
長: zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader; Kangxi radical 168
短: duǎn · short; brief; deficient, lacking
长: zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–2–1–3 · yi1 chang2 yi1 duan3

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

一長一短 · find source passages ↗ · 一长一短 · find source passages ↗

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) talking endlessly; long-winded

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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