说
shuō
Words unspooling from the mouth: 说
The picture Words unspooling from your mouth like thread, reaching toward the other person.
Where the picture shows up in 说
-
the words carry across
他说明天有空。
tā shuō míngtiān yǒu kòng
He says he's free tomorrow.
-
you can spool that language out
你会说中文吗？
nǐ huì shuō Zhōngwén ma
Do you speak Chinese?
说 is producing speech, 谈 is talking something over, and 告诉 is telling someone a fact.
-
words that tie a knot
说好了明天见。
shuōhǎo le míngtiān jiàn
We agreed to meet tomorrow.
-
the words land on you
老板说了我一顿。
lǎobǎn shuō le wǒ yí dùn
The boss gave me an earful.
说了我一顿 isn't 'talked about me' — it's 'told me off'.
-
no word will cut it cleanly
这件事不好说。
zhè jiàn shì bù hǎo shuō
It's hard to say with this one.