滔tāo滔tāo不bù绝jué

Literal: surging waters that never break off
Figurative: To talk on and on without a break, like a river that never stops; it can praise someone's fluency or complain about the flood of words.

Where does 滔滔不绝 come from?

There is no anecdote behind it. 滔滔 is an old word for water surging along unchecked, and 不绝 means "never breaking off"; the image of an unbroken current is where the meaning comes from. The four-character form, written exactly this way, is not traceable to any one classical work. Today it is heard mostly of people who talk nonstop, and the context sets the tone: admiration for someone fluent, or weariness with someone who never lets you get a word in.

How is 滔滔不绝 used? Two examples

他tā一yī上shàng台tái就jiù滔tāo滔tāo不bù绝jué，把bǎ复fù杂zá的de问wèn题tí讲jiǎng得de很hěn清qīng楚chu。
The moment he takes the stage he's off and running, and he makes even complicated things clear.
老lǎo师shī在zài台tái上shàng滔tāo滔tāo不bù绝jué地de讲jiǎng了le两liǎng个gè小xiǎo时shí。
The teacher stood at the front and talked without a pause for two hours.

In Wanyu, all 400 chengyu have audio on every sentence, and you can save them to your decks and review them with spaced repetition. Free.