The Chinese character 談 / 谈 (pronounced tán) shows words (言) beside a fire (火), a nice way to express the meaning of chat, since the fireside is such a nice place for chatting.
Chatting can be a nice way to pass the time, but words can also be a source of conflict, so another interpretation of the character 談 / 谈 could be the flames that arise from idle chat.
Mandarin Vocabulary With Tán
| Traditional Characters | Simplified Characters | Pinyin | English |
| 筆談 | 笔谈 | bǐ tán | conversation by writing/sketches and notes |
| 長談 | 长谈 | cháng tán | a long talk |
| 和談 | 和谈 | hé tán | peace talks |
| 會談 | 会谈 | huì tán | talks; discussions |
| 洽談 | 洽谈 | qià tán | discuss |
| 深談 | 深谈 | shēn tán | have an in depth conversation; have intimate talks; discuss thoroughly |
| 談到 | 谈到 | tán dào | to refer to; to speak about; to talk about |
| 談得來 | 谈得来 | tán dé lái | able to talk to or get on with; get along with |
| 談話 | 谈话 | tán huà | talk; conversation |
| 談判桌 | 谈判桌 | tán pàn zhuō | conference table |
