打蛇打七寸
dǎ​shé​dǎ​qī​cùn

hit the target where it hurts

  • created reference approved 打蛇打七寸 → 打蛇打到七寸子 (variant) — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    打蛇打七寸 dǎ​shé​dǎ​qī​cùn

    打蛇打到七寸子 dǎ​shé​dǎ​dào​qī​cùn​zi

    variant

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

    created reference

  • created sense approved 打蛇打七寸 · dǎ​shé​dǎ​qī​cùn · hit the target where it hurts — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    打蛇打七寸

    dǎ​shé​dǎ​qī​cùn

    hit the target where it hurts

    literally "to strike a snake at its seventh inch," which refers to the location of its heart; used to describe hitting someone's weak point or handling a problem by addressing its most critical part

    打 (literal) → 打 · dǎ · to hit 蛇 (literal) → 蛇 · shé · snake 打 (literal) → 打 · dǎ · to hit 七 (literal) → 七 · qī · seven 寸 (literal) → 寸 · cùn · cun

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

    created sense