咬文嚼字 yǎo wén jiáo zì

DEFINITIONS

  1. to bite words and chew characters (idiom); punctilious about minutiae of wording

CHARACTERS

咬 yǎo
HSK 5
bite, gnaw
文 wén
HSK 3
literature, culture, writing
嚼 jiáo
HSK 6
prattle, be glib
字 zì
HSK 1
letter, character, word