头痛医头，脚痛医脚 in English tou2 tong4 yi1 tou2 , jiao3 tong4 yi1 jiao3 Meaning

Meanings

  • to treat the symptoms rather than getting to the root of the problem (proverb)
  • reactive (rather than proactive)

Simplified Characters

头 痛 医 头 ， 脚 痛 医 脚

Traditional Characters

頭 痛 醫 頭 ， 腳 痛 醫 腳

Pinyin

tou2 tong4 yi1 tou2 , jiao3 tong4 yi1 jiao3

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

头tou2head 痛tong4ache 医yi1medical 头tou2head ， 脚jiao3foot 痛tong4ache 医yi1medical 脚jiao3foot