自圆其说

自圓其說
zìyuánqíshuō
idiom #27,482

Meanings

  1. 1 to make one's story consistent
  2. 2 to justify oneself
  3. 3 to make a plausible explanation

Examples

Tā fèi le hǎo dà jìn cái zìyuánqíshuō.
He had to work very hard to make his story hold together.
Tā de jiěshì gēnběn wúfǎ zìyuánqíshuō.
Her explanation simply couldn't be made consistent.

Tips

usage
自圆其说 often carries a slightly negative connotation — the person is straining to make their account fit, patching holes in their story. It doesn't necessarily imply lying, but does suggest the original claim was flawed.
memory
(yuán) means round/complete — imagine rounding off all the rough edges of a story until it makes a perfect circle with no gaps.

Stroke Order

yuán
shuō