飲鴆止渴
Chinese
| drink | a mythical bird; poisonous; to poison | to quench one's thirst | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (飲鴆止渴) | 飲 | 鴆 | 止渴 | |
| simp. (饮鸩止渴) | 饮 | 鸩 | 止渴 | |
| Literally: “to drink poisonous liquor to quench thirst”. | ||||
Etymology
Based on a quote in Book of Later Han:
- 譬猶療飢於附子，止渴於酖毒，未入膓胃，已絕咽喉，豈可爲哉！ [Literary Chinese, trad.]
- From: The Book of the Later Han, circa 5th century CE
- Pìyóu liáojī yú fùzǐ, zhǐkě yú zhèndú, wèi rù chángwèi, yǐ jué yānhóu, qǐ kě wéi zāi! [Pinyin]
- It's like sating hunger with aconite roots and slaking thirst with zhen's poison; they would not even enter the stomach and guts before already having killed by blocking off the throat; how can such a thing be done?
譬犹疗饥于附子，止渴于鸩毒，未入肠胃，已绝咽喉，岂可为哉！ [Literary Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
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