打破砂锅问到底
dǎ​pò​shā​guō​wèn​dào​dǐ

to get to the bottom of things

  • created reference approved 打破砂锅问到底/打破砂鍋問到底 → 打破砂锅璺到底/打破砂鍋璺到底 (variant) — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    打破砂锅问到底 / 打破砂鍋問到底 dǎ​pò​shā​guō​wèn​dào​dǐ

    打破砂锅璺到底 / 打破砂鍋璺到底 dǎ​pò​shā​guō​wèn​dào​dǐ

    variant

    Changed: source (simp), source (trad), source pinyin, target (simp), target (trad), target pinyin, type

    created reference

  • created sense approved 打破砂锅问到底/打破砂鍋問到底 · dǎ​pò​shā​guō​wèn​dào​dǐ · to get to the bottom of things — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    打破砂锅问到底 / 打破砂鍋問到底

    dǎ​pò​shā​guō​wèn​dào​dǐ

    to get to the bottom of things

    To insist on getting a detailed answer or finding out the root cause of something. This idiom is a pun: a broken clay pot has a crack that goes to the bottom, and the word for crack [[璺|璺|wen4]] sounds like the word for ask [[问|問|wen4]].

    打破 (literal) → 打破 · dǎ​pò · to break 砂锅 (literal) → 砂锅/砂鍋 · shā​guō · clay pot 问 (literal) → 问/問 · wèn · to ask 到底 (literal) → 到底 · dào​dǐ · to the end

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense