treat symptoms not root; piecemeal solution; stopgap measure
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesidiom
to treat the head when it aches and the foot when it hurts; to adopt a piecemeal approach; to treat symptoms rather than the root cause; to apply stopgap measures
Often used critically to describe reactive, short-sighted solutions that fail to address underlying problems. Carries a negative connotation of inefficiency.
Wǒ我
men们
bù不
néng能
tóu头
tòng痛
yī医
tóu头
，
jiǎo脚
tòng痛
yī医
jiǎo脚
，
bì必
xū须
zhǎo找
dào到
wèn问
tí题
de的
gēn根
yuán源
。
We can't just treat the symptoms as they appear; we must find the root of the problem.
Zhè这
zhǒng种
tóu头
tòng痛
yī医
tóu头
，
jiǎo脚
tòng痛
yī医
jiǎo脚
de的
zuò做
fǎ法
，
zhǐ只
huì会
dǎo导
zhì致
wèn问
tí题
yuè越
lái来
yuè越
yán严
zhòng重
。
This piecemeal approach will only cause the problems to become increasingly serious.
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Zuò做
gōng工
zuò作
yào要
shàn善
yú于
zhuā抓
zhù住
zhǔ主
yào要
máo矛
dùn盾
，
bù不
néng能
tóu头
tòng痛
yī医
tóu头
，
jiǎo脚
tòng痛
yī医
jiǎo脚
。
In doing work, one must be good at grasping the principal contradiction rather than taking a piecemeal approach.
Qǐ企
yè业
guǎn管
lǐ理
bù不
néng能
zǒng总
shì是
tóu头
tòng痛
yī医
tóu头
，
jiǎo脚
tòng痛
yī医
jiǎo脚
，
yào要
yǒu有
cháng长
yuǎn远
guī规
huà划
。
Enterprise management cannot always be reactive; there must be long-term planning.