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泛泛而談

简泛泛而谈 · 繁泛泛而談

Mandarin · pinyin fàn fàn ér tán

to speak in general terms

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Characters in this entry

泛: fàn · to drift, float; careless, reckless
而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
談: tán · talk; conversation; surname
谈: tán · talk; conversation; surname

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–2–2 · fan4 fan4 er2 tan2

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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.

泛泛而談 · find source passages ↗ · 泛泛而谈 · 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 talk in generalities

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

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