饮鸩止渴

飲鴆止渴
yǐnzhèn-zhǐkě
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 to drink poisoned wine to quench thirst
  2. 2 to seek temporary relief at the cost of disaster; a cure worse than the disease

Examples

Kào jiè gāolìdài huánzhài, bùguò shì yǐnzhèn-zhǐkě.
Paying off debt by taking out loan-shark loans is just drinking poison to quench thirst.
Yòng tòuzhī xìnyòngkǎ lái wéichí shēnghuó shì yǐnzhèn-zhǐkě de zuòfǎ.
Maintaining your lifestyle by maxing out credit cards is a self-destructive short-term fix.

Tips

history
From 《后汉书·霍谞传》: 譬犹疗饥于附子,止渴于鸩毒 - 'It is like treating hunger with aconite or thirst with poisoned wine.' was a legendary poisonous bird whose feathers could be soaked in wine to make a deadly drink.
memory
The character contains (bird) - the legendary poison-bird itself. The image is brutal: drinking actual poison just to feel less thirsty for a moment.

Stroke Order

yǐn
zhèn
zhǐ