钻牛角尖
Traditional form:
鑽牛角尖
Pinyin (reading):
zuānniújiǎojiān
Definitions:
- lit. to penetrate into a bull's horn (idiom); fig. to waste time on an insoluble or insignificant problem
- to bash one's head against a brick wall
- a wild goose chase
- a blind alley
- to split hairs
Characters:
- 钻 - diamond; to bore, to drill, to pierce
- 牛 - ox, cow, bull
- 角 - angle, corner; horn, horn-shaped
- 尖 - sharp, pointed, acute; keen, shrewd
Traditional characters: