揚湯止沸

See also: 扬汤止沸

Chinese

		hurl; to raise; to scatter	soup; hot water	to stop; prohibit; till	boil
trad. (揚湯止沸)		揚	湯	止	沸
simp. (扬汤止沸)		扬	汤	止	沸
Literally: “try to stop water from boiling by scooping it up from the pot and pouring it back”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yángtāngzhǐfèi

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄤˊ ㄊㄤ ㄓˇ ㄈㄟˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): joeng⁴ tong¹ zi² fai³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yángtāngzhǐfèi
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄤˊ ㄊㄤ ㄓˇ ㄈㄟˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yángtangjhǐhfèi
    • Wade–Giles: yang²-tʻang¹-chih³-fei⁴
    • Yale: yáng-tāng-jř-fèi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yangtangjyyfey
    • Palladius: янтанчжифэй (jantančžifɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɑŋ³⁵ tʰɑŋ⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ feɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: joeng⁴ tong¹ zi² fai³
    • Yale: yèuhng tōng jí fai
    • Cantonese Pinyin: joeng⁴ tong¹ dzi² fai³
    • Guangdong Romanization: yêng⁴ tong¹ ji² fei³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jœːŋ²¹ tʰɔːŋ⁵⁵ t͡siː³⁵ fɐi̯³³/

Idiom

揚湯止沸

1. (figuratively) to implement temporary solutions that do not address the root of the problem

Derived terms

• 揚湯止沸，不如去薪／扬汤止沸，不如去薪 (yángtāngzhǐfèi, bùrú qù xīn)