牛角尖

niújiǎojiān
idiom #53,804

Meanings

  1. 1 a pointless problem one obsesses over
  2. 2 an ox's horn tip; a dead-end line of thought

Examples

Nǐ bié zuān niújiǎojiān, huàn ge jiǎodù xiǎngxiang.
Don't get stuck in a horn-tip dead end; try looking at it from another angle.
Tā yídàn zuān jìn niújiǎojiān, jiù tīng bú jìn biérén de huà.
Once he burrows into a dead-end problem, he won't listen to anyone.

Tips

usage
Almost always appears with the verb in the set phrase 钻牛角尖 — to burrow into the tip of an ox's horn, i.e. to obsess over a problem you can't solve and shouldn't be wrestling with in the first place.

Stroke Order

niú
jiǎo
jiān