侃

kǎn
verb #20,175

Meanings

  1. 1 to chat idly
  2. 2 to talk freely and at length
  3. 3 to boast
  4. 4 to talk smoothly

Examples

HSK 4
Bié guāng kǎn dàshān le, wǒmen zuò diǎn zhèngshì ba.
Stop chatting idly - let's get some real work done.
HSK 6
Tāmen zài kāfēiguǎn lǐ kǎn le hǎojǐ gè xiǎoshí.
They chatted away for hours in the coffee shop.

Tips

usage
侃大山 (kǎn dàshān) is a common colloquial phrase meaning 'to chat idly' or 'to shoot the breeze'. 侃 alone can also mean to boast or talk smoothly. It is informal and colloquial in register.

Components

radical
亻 rén
person (left-side radical of 人)
Left person radical, the side form of 人. Talking is a human activity, so the radical sets the scene: a person doing something with their mouth. Indexes 侃 in the chatter-and-action family alongside 你 you, 们 plural, 信 trust, 仁 benevolence.
semantic
口 kǒu
mouth
Upper-right 口 - a mouth, the physical organ of speech. Sits on top of the flowing river 川 below, picturing words pouring out as freely as water from the mouth. This stacked image is the etymological core of 侃: easy, unhurried, free-flowing talk.
semantic
川 chuān
river; flowing stream
Lower-right 川 - three vertical strokes picturing a river. Below the mouth above it, this converts speech into water imagery: chat flowing on and on like a stream. Hence 侃 means to talk at length, easily, even to boast - 侃大山 means to chew the fat for hours.

Stroke Order

侃 kǎn