老实说
lǎoshíshuō · HSK 7
honestly
🤚 老实 (honest) + 说 (speak) = speak honestly; said when being frank
老 (old) + 实 (solid/real) together mean honest or truthful, and 说 means to speak. So 老实说 literally is honest-speak, used like to be honest or frankly speaking at the start of a candid remark.
老 — old man 耂 + 匕 (bent figure)
Originally a pictograph of an elderly person with long hair leaning on a cane. The top 耂 depicts the hair and stooped body, while 匕 at the bottom represents the cane or a bent figure. The core meaning 'old' has remained stable since oracle bone script.
说 — speech radical 讠(言) + 兑
说 combines the speech radical 讠(言, 'words') with 兑, which acts as the phonetic component. The character originally meant 'to explain' or 'to speak,' and broadened to mean 'say' or 'talk.' The same graph is also read 'yuè' meaning 'pleased,' a sense later written 悦.