Chinese idiom · 成语
信口雌黄
Meaning
To speak recklessly; to make irresponsible remarks.
Character by character
Origin and story
historical anecdoteAn account of Wang Yan in Sun Sheng’s Jin Yangqiu (晉陽秋), preserved in later quotation, says that he readily changed his statements whenever their meaning no longer satisfied him. People nicknamed this ability 'orpiment in the mouth.' A similar description survives in the Jinshu, volume 43.
Orpiment, 雌黄, is a yellow mineral pigment used in correcting written text. The comparison imagines a speaker carrying a kind of verbal correction material, able to alter his claims as he goes. The later idiom adds 信口, speaking without restraint, and has a distinctly critical sense: making irresponsible assertions or judgments without regard for facts. The mineral name should be understood as a unit, not translated as 'female yellow.'
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
你连合同都没看过，就说他骗人，这不是信口雌黄吗？
You haven't even read the contract, yet you say he's cheating people—isn't that an irresponsible accusation?
Strongly critical of groundless assertions or unfair comments.