钻牛角尖

鑽牛角尖

zuānniú-jiǎojiān

idiom #24,454

Meanings

1 to split hairs
2 to get bogged down in trivialities
3 to pursue a dead end
4 to fixate on an unsolvable problem

Characters

to drill / to bore into

cow / bull / ox

tip / sharp point

Examples

HSK 4

别钻牛角尖了，这个问题根本没有答案。

Bié zuānniú-jiǎojiān le, zhè gè wèntí gēnběn méiyǒu dá'àn.

Stop splitting hairs. This problem simply has no answer.

HSK 7-9

他总喜欢钻牛角尖，讨论一些无关紧要的细节。

Tā zǒng xǐhuān zuānniú-jiǎojiān, tǎolùn yīxiē wúguān-jǐnyào de xìjié.

He always likes to nitpick and discuss irrelevant details.

Tips

memory

Picture trying to drill into the sharp tip of a bull's horn - an impossible, pointless task. That is exactly what 钻牛角尖 describes: pouring effort into something that leads nowhere.

Stroke Order

钻 zuān

牛 niú

角 jiǎo

尖 jiān