The Chinese word "一概而论" is formed from four characters: "一" meaning "one" or "all", "概" meaning "general" or "without exception", "而" functioning as a connective particle meaning "and" or "then", and "论" meaning "to discuss" or "to judge". The phrase literally combines "一概" (all without exception) with "而论" (and then judge) to convey the concept of applying a single standard to all cases, thus forming an idiom that means to generalize indiscriminately.