咬文嚼字 meaning in English
chew [ruminate] upon a subject; be excessively particular about wording; be overfastidious in wording; bite phrases and chew characters; bite and chew letters (pedantry); chop logic; mince words in speech [writing]; munch style and chew words; pay excessive attention to wording; speak like a book; spout phrases out of some book; talk pedantically
Examples
- I don't like splitting hairs .
我不喜欢咬文嚼字。 - In the discussion he often seemed petty and pedantic .
在交谈当中，他往往拘泥小节，咬文嚼字。 - I hate the rigid definition: it's so ugly, so obvious .
我不喜欢咬文嚼字，这样的做法太叫人不痛快，也太外露了。 - They stigmatize these propositions as "trifling" or "merely verbal" .
他们把这些命题贬称为“琐碎”或“只是咬文嚼字罢了”。 - He was a more than commonly candid english gentleman in his avowed dislike of the poet's nonsense, verbiage and verse .
他比一般无偏见的英国绅士更加公然地宣称：他讨厌诗人的言之无物、冗词赘语和咬文嚼字。