lǎo老oldshēng生scholarcháng常oftentán谈talk
A cliché; a commonplace remark; a truism.
Literal meaning
old (老) — scholar (生) — often (常) — talk (谈)
Origin
A classical four-character phrase, referring to something that has been said so many times that it has become stale and uninteresting.
Examples
zhè这xiē些dào道lǐ理suī虽rán然shì是lǎo老shēng生cháng常tán谈，dàn但réng仍rán然hěn很zhòng重yào要。
Although these principles are clichés, they are still very important.
tā他de的yǎn演jiǎng讲chōng充mǎn满le了lǎo老shēng生cháng常tán谈，tīng听zhòng众dōu都gǎn感dào到yàn厌fán烦。
His speech was full of clichés, and the audience was bored.
Usage & nuances
Used to describe something that is unoriginal and uninteresting.
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