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望文生义

wàng wén shēng yì

4-character word Traditional 望文生義

What 望文生义 means

1. lit. view a text and interpret (idiom); to interpret word by word without understanding the meaning
2. a far-fetched interpretation

The characters in 望文生义

• 望wàngfull moon; to hope; to expect
• 文wénlanguage; culture; writing
• 生shēngto grow; to give birth; to produce; to be born; to arise; to occur; to light (a fire)
• 义yìjustice; righteousness; meaning

Example sentences

• 你的理解有点望文生义了。
  Your interpretation is based merely on the surface meaning.