三句话不离本行

三句話不離本行

sānjùhuàbùlíběnháng

idiom

Meanings

1 can't say three sentences without bringing up one's own line of work
2 to talk shop all the time

Characters

sentence (measure word)

to leave, depart

trade, profession

Examples

他是个医生，三句话不离本行，连吃饭都在讲病例。

Tā shì gè yīshēng, sānjùhuàbùlíběnháng, lián chīfàn dōu zài jiǎng bìnglì.

He's a doctor — can't say three sentences without going on about cases, even at dinner.

做销售的人三句话不离本行很正常。

Zuò xiāoshòu de rén sānjùhuàbùlíběnháng hěn zhèngcháng.

It's perfectly normal for salespeople to talk shop nonstop.

Tips

history

Cited in Li Boyuan's late-Qing satirical novel 《官场现形记》 (Guānchǎng Xiànxíngjì, 'Exposure of the Official World,' 1903): 'Wherever he went, three sentences in he was already on his line of work, pulling out his subscription book to show people.' The idiom has been a stock complaint about specialists ever since.

memory

Read it literally: 三句话 (three sentences) 不离 (don't leave) 本行 (one's own trade). After three sentences, they've already steered back to work. Universal.

Stroke Order

三 sān

句 jù

话 huà

不 bù

离 lí

本 běn

行 xíng