“扯淡”探源

Exploring the Source of “扯淡( che dan) ”

始见于明代的"扯淡"一词文献习见,其中"淡"当为"诞"。"胡说"义是"扯淡"的引申义,该义来自"扯"的"闲谈"义和"诞"的"虚妄不实的言论"义。"拉"与"扯"语义相近,且有着相似的引申路径,所不同的是,"扯"已引申出"胡说"、"瞎说"义,而"拉"却没有。

The word “扯淡 （ che dan）” first appearing in the Ming dynasty, is often seen in the Chinese literature. The “淡 （dan）” in the “扯淡 （ che dan ）” should be “诞 （dan） ”. The meaning“胡说（ hu shuo） ”is the extended meaning of “扯淡（ che dan） ”which is from the meaning of “扯（che） ”, “chat” and that of “诞 （dan）”, the “false speech”. “拉（la） ”and “扯（che）”are not only of simi- lar meanings, but also of similar extension paths. The difference is that the former has extended out the meaning of “nonsense” and the latter has not.