探空靴

tànkōngxuē

idiom

Meanings

HSK 4

他的演讲不过是探空靴，没有一句实在的。

Tā de yǎnjiǎng bùguò shì tànkōngxuē, méiyǒu yí jù shízài de.

His speech was all hot air - not a single concrete thing in it.

HSK 4

别再说探空靴了，拿出具体方案来。

Bié zài shuō tànkōngxuē le, ná chū jùtǐ fāng'àn lái.

Stop the empty posturing and bring out an actual plan.

Rare and literary. The image is of thrusting a hand into an empty boot - grand gesture, nothing inside. Modern equivalents: 说空话 or 放空炮.

探 tàn

空 kōng

靴 xuē