說來話長 shuō lái huà cháng

DEFINITIONS

  1. start explaining and it's a long story (idiom); complicated and not easy to express succinctly

CHARACTERS

說 shuō speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid
來 lái come, coming; return, returning
話 huà speech, talk, language; dialect
長 cháng long; length; excel in; leader