隔靴搔痒

隔靴搔癢

géxuē-sāoyǎng

idiom

Meanings

1 to scratch an itch from outside the boot
2 to address an issue superficially; ineffective; beside the point

Characters

separated by; across

Examples

HSK 3

光改文字不改制度，等于隔靴搔痒。

Guāng gǎi wénzì bù gǎi zhìdù, děngyú géxuē-sāoyǎng.

Changing only the wording without reforming the system is just scratching through a boot.

HSK 5

他的批评隔靴搔痒，根本没说到关键。

Tā de pīpíng géxuē-sāoyǎng, gēnběn méi shuō dào guānjiàn.

His criticism missed the point entirely - pure surface stuff.

HSK 7-9

这项政策治标不治本，简直是隔靴搔痒。

Zhè xiàng zhèngcè zhìbiāo bù zhìběn, jiǎnzhí shì géxuē-sāoyǎng.

This policy treats the symptom not the cause - it's like scratching an itch through a boot.

Tips

history

From the Song-dynasty poetics treatise 《沧浪诗话·诗法》 by Yan Yu: 意贵透澈，不可隔靴搔痒 - 'meaning should be penetrating, never like scratching an itch through a boot.' Originally a poetics metaphor, now general.

memory

The literal image is almost physical: your foot itches inside a boot and you scratch the leather outside - you can feel the effort, the itch feels nothing. Perfect for 'lots of motion, no effect.'

Stroke Order

隔 gé

靴 xuē

搔 sāo

痒 yǎng