钻牛角

鑽牛角

zuānniújiǎo

idiom

Meanings

1 to fixate on an insoluble or trivial problem; to split hairs; to drive oneself up a blind alley

Characters

Examples

别钻牛角了，这道题换个思路就好了。

Bié zuānniújiǎo le, zhè dào tí huàn ge sīlù jiù hǎo le.

Stop bashing your head against the wall — try a different approach to the problem.

他一钻牛角，谁劝也没用。

Tā yì zuānniújiǎo, shéi quàn yě méi yòng.

Once he gets fixated, nobody can talk him out of it.

Tips

memory

Picture an insect crawling into a bull's horn: the deeper it goes, the narrower the space. Same as the fuller 钻牛角尖. Use when someone is getting stuck on a pointless detail.

Stroke Order

钻 zuān

牛 niú

角 jiǎo