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東家長西家短

简东家长西家短 · 繁東家長西家短

Mandarin · pinyin dōng jiā cháng xī jiā duǎn

to gossip (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

東: dōng · east, eastern, eastward
家: jiā · house, home, residence; family
長: zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader; Kangxi radical 168
西: xī · west(ern); westward; occident; Kangxi radical 146
短: duǎn · short; brief; deficient, lacking
东: dōng · east, eastern, eastward
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

1–1–2–1–1–3 · dong1 jia1 chang2 xi1 jia1 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.

東家長西家短 · find source passages ↗ · 东家长西家短 · 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) to gossip about others

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

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