鱼缘木

魚緣木

yúyuánmù

idiom

Meanings

1 a wholly futile effort, trying the impossible
2 a fish climbing a tree

Characters

Examples

想不学就成专家，无异于鱼缘木。

Xiǎng bù xué jiù chéng zhuānjiā, wúyì yú yúyuánmù.

Expecting to become an expert without studying is like a fish trying to climb a tree.

他这个做法，跟鱼缘木没两样。

Tā zhège zuòfǎ, gēn yúyuánmù méi liǎng yàng.

What he's doing is as hopeless as a fish climbing a tree.

Tips

history

From 《孟子·梁惠王上》: 缘木求鱼 — 'to climb a tree to seek fish.' 鱼缘木 flips the image, with the fish itself doing the climbing, but the message is identical: wrong method, guaranteed failure.

Stroke Order

鱼 yú

缘 yuán

木 mù