Killing ants with meat

Killing ants with meat

Kill ants with meat (Y ǐ R ò UQ ù y ǐ): drive ants with meat, the more ants. Metaphorical behavior and purpose contradict each other and only get the opposite result. It comes from Han Feizi, the lower left of waichu.

Idiom explanation

Heading: kill ants with meat

Pronunciation: y ǐ R ò UQ ù y ǐ

The more ants there are, the more ants there are. Metaphorical behavior and purpose contradict each other and only get the opposite result.

Idioms and allusions

Source: Han Feizi, waichu Shuo, lower left: "if you kill ants with meat, the more ants there are; if you drive flies with fish, the more flies there are."

Discrimination of words

Usage: as object and attribute; used in figurative sentences

Synonym: to remove the bone

Emotional color: neutral idioms

Idiom structure: more formal idioms

Degree of common use: Average

Emotional color: commendatory words

Time of birth: ancient times