醜話說在前頭

let's talk about the unpleasant things first / let's be frank

let's talk about the unpleasant things first; let's be frank

shameful / ugly / disgraceful

ugly talk / vulgarity / obscenity

dialect / language / spoken words / speech / talk / words / conversation / what sb said / CL:種|种[zhong3],席[xi2],句[ju4],口[kou3],番[fan1]

It is said that ... (at the start of a narrative) / to discuss / to recount

It is said that ... (at the start of a narrative) / to discuss; to recount

to persuade

to speak / to say / to explain / to scold / to tell off / a theory (typically the last character in a compound, as in 日心說|日心说 heliocentric theory)

to speak; to talk; to say / to explain; to comment / to scold; to tell off / (bound form) theory; doctrine

to exist; to be alive / (of sb or sth) to be (located) at / (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)

ahead / formerly / in the past

front / forward / ahead / first / top (followed by a number) / future / ago / before / BC (e.g. 前293年) / former / formerly

in front / at the head / ahead / above

head / hair style / the top / end / beginning or end / a stub / remnant / chief / boss / side / aspect / first / leading / classifier for pigs or livestock / CL:個|个[ge4]

suffix for nouns