说“诽”“谤”

Brief Comments on the Chinese Equivalents of “Slander” and “Libel”

“诽谤”在现代汉语中是个贬义词，意为无中生有，说人坏话，毁人名誉。但“诽”和“谤”的本义不含贬义，是中性词，其意为公开批评或指责别人的过失。

Slander”and “lobel” derogatory terms in modern Chinese, used to mean someone intentionally spreads rumours fabricated out of thin air and brazen lies for the purpose of caluminating others. However, “slander” and “libel”in Chinese originally carried no derogatory meaning at all, they were neutral adjectivees, embodying the meaning of criticising or blaming others'mstakes. As time went on, the original meaning changed to the present one.