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言外之意

yán wài zhī yì

what is implied

Character by character

言yán
words
外wài
beyond
之zhī
of
意yì
meaning

Example

你听出他的言外之意了吗?
Did you catch what he was implying?

Tone: neutral.

Usage and origin

Usually 听出…的言外之意; the Chinese for 'subtext'.

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