一言抄百总

一言抄百總

yīyánchāobǎizǒng

idiom

Meanings

1 to cut a long story short
2 in one phrase, sum it all up

Characters

to copy / summarize

Examples

HSK 3

我一言抄百总，咱们今天就把事办了。

Wǒ yīyánchāobǎizǒng, zánmen jīntiān jiù bǎ shì bàn le.

Cutting to the chase - let's settle the matter today.

HSK 5

一言抄百总，他不愿合作。

Yīyánchāobǎizǒng, tā bù yuàn hézuò.

Long story short - he doesn't want to cooperate.

Tips

register

Colloquial / regional, less canonical than 长话短说 (chánghuà-duǎnshuō, 'long talk, short telling'). 抄 here means 'to copy / summarize,' 百总 means 'all the various,' so the literal sense is 'one phrase that copies a hundred totals.'

Stroke Order

一 yī

言 yán

抄 chāo

百 bǎi

总 zǒng