yǐn饮drinkzhèn鸩poisonzhǐ止stopkě渴thirst
To quench one's thirst with poison; to adopt a stopgap measure that brings about disastrous results.
Literal meaning
drink (饮) — poison (鸩) — stop (止) — thirst (渴)
Origin
A classical four-character phrase warning against short-sighted solutions.
Examples
Kào靠jiè借zhài债dù度rì日wú无yì异yú于yǐn饮zhèn鸩zhǐ止kě渴。
Living on borrowed money is no different than drinking poison to quench one's thirst.
Zhè这zhǒng种yǐn饮zhèn鸩zhǐ止kě渴de的bàn办fǎ法zuì最zhōng终huì会hài害le了nǐ你。
This kind of stopgap measure will eventually harm you.
Usage & nuances
Negative connotation; used to criticize short-sighted or harmful solutions.
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