说来话长 shuō lái huà cháng

DEFINITIONS

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

CHARACTERS

说 shuō
HSK 1
speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid
来 lái
HSK 1
come, coming; return, returning
话 huà
HSK 1
speech, talk, language; dialect
长 cháng
HSK 2
long; length; excel in; leader