七嘴八舌

qīzuǐ-bāshé

idiom HSK 7-9 #46,969

Meanings

HSK 3

大家七嘴八舌地讨论起来。

Dàjiā qīzuǐ-bāshé de tǎolùn qǐlái.

Everyone started talking at once in discussion.

HSK 4

同学们七嘴八舌，教室里很热闹。

Tóngxué men qīzuǐ-bāshé, jiàoshì lǐ hěn rènào.

The students were all talking over each other, making the classroom very lively.

memory

Seven mouths (七嘴) and eight tongues (八舌) -- imagine a crowd where there are more tongues than mouths, everyone talking nonstop!

usage

七嘴八舌 is descriptive rather than negative. It depicts a lively, noisy scene of many people talking simultaneously, not necessarily arguing.

七 qī

嘴 zuǐ

八 bā

舌 shé