侃大山
kǎn dà shān · HSK 7
to boast or brag
💬⛰️ 侃 kǎn = chat + 大山 = big mountain: talking up a whole mountain of nothing
侃 means to chat or banter; 大山 is big mountain. Stacked together it is piling words as high as a mountain — endless idle chatter, gossip, and tall-tale bragging that goes nowhere.
大 — pictograph of a person with arms outstretched
大 is a pictograph showing a person standing with arms and legs spread wide. The outstretched arms suggest 'big' or 'great', extending from the literal image of a large stance to abstract meanings like important or grand. It is one of the oldest characters, found on oracle bones.
山 — pictograph of three mountain peaks
山 is one of the oldest pictographs in Chinese, originally drawn in oracle bone script as three pointed peaks rising from a baseline. The form was simplified over time into the modern three vertical strokes on a base. Its meaning has stayed remarkably stable: 'mountain' or 'hill'.