实话实说
shí huà shí shuō
to tell it as it is
Character by character
实shí
true
true
话huà
words
words
实shí
truly
truly
说shuō
say
say
Example
实话实说，我不太喜欢这个设计。
To be honest, I don't really like this design.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
Often opens a frank opinion, like 'to be honest'.
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