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心知肚明

xīn zhī dù míng

to know full well (without saying it)

Character by character

心xīn
heart
知zhī
knows
肚dù
belly
明míng
clear

Example

谁对谁错,大家心知肚明。
Everyone knows perfectly well who's right and who's wrong.

Tone: neutral.

Usage and origin

Implies an unspoken truth.

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