When your toddler throws a tantrum, you tell them to "use your words." Turns out Confucius said something similar 2,500 years ago—but he was worried about the opposite problem. In this fourth episode, host Elliott Bernstein unpacks passage 15.41—just five characters about the purpose of language. Why does Confucius care if someone brags about their new Bentley? What's the difference between words that "convey their point" and words that manipulate or deceive? And when was it actually okay for Confucius to sound totally self-righteous? Along the way: speech act theory meets ancient China (locutionary, illocutionary, perlocutionary—what?), the 质/文 dichotomy that explains why you can't polish a turd but plenty of people will try anyway, why 达 means so much more than "accomplished" (hint: it's about being unblocked), and the surprising reason Confucius repeatedly warned his students about people with too much education and too little character. Plus: what 虚词 are and why they do all the heavy lifting in Classical Chinese.