The word "胡说" (húshuō) is formed through a historical and cultural metaphor. The character "胡" originally referred to northern and western non-Han Chinese peoples, whom ancient Han Chinese often viewed as culturally inferior. Over time, "胡" evolved to mean "reckless" or "unfounded". When combined with "说" (to speak), the term literally means "the speech of the Hu people", but it figuratively came to signify "nonsense" or "wild talk", reflecting a historical ethnocentric bias that dismissed the words of these neighboring peoples as irrational or baseless.