頭痛醫頭，腳痛醫腳

Chinese

		head; (noun suffix)	ache; pain; sorrow	medical; medicine; doctor medical; medicine; doctor; to cure; to treat	head; (noun suffix)		role; foot; base	ache; pain; sorrow	medical; medicine; doctor medical; medicine; doctor; to cure; to treat	role; foot; base
trad. (頭痛醫頭，腳痛醫腳)		頭	痛	醫	頭	，	腳	痛	醫	腳
simp. (头痛医头，脚痛医脚)		头	痛	医	头	，	脚	痛	医	脚
Literally: “treat the head when the head hurts, treat the foot when the foot hurts”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tóutòng yī tóu, jiǎotòng yī jiǎo

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄡˊ ㄊㄨㄥˋ ㄧ ㄊㄡˊ , ㄐㄧㄠˇ ㄊㄨㄥˋ ㄧ ㄐㄧㄠˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): tau⁴ tung³ ji¹ tau⁴, goek³ tung³ ji¹ goek³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tóutòng yī tóu, jiǎotòng yī jiǎo
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄡˊ ㄊㄨㄥˋ ㄧ ㄊㄡˊ , ㄐㄧㄠˇ ㄊㄨㄥˋ ㄧ ㄐㄧㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tóutòng yi tóu, jiǎotòng yi jiǎo
    • Wade–Giles: tʻou²-tʻung⁴ i¹ tʻou², chiao³-tʻung⁴ i¹ chiao³
    • Yale: tóu-tùng yī tóu-, jyǎu-tùng yī jyǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tourtonq i tour, jeautonq i jeau
    • Palladius: тоутун и тоу, цзяотун и цзяо (toutun i tou, czjaotun i czjao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰoʊ̯³⁵ tʰʊŋ⁵¹ i⁵⁵ tʰoʊ̯³⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ tʰʊŋ⁵¹ i⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: tau⁴ tung³ ji¹ tau⁴, goek³ tung³ ji¹ goek³
    • Yale: tàuh tung yī tàuh, geuk tung yī geuk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tau⁴ tung³ ji¹ tau⁴, goek⁸ tung³ ji¹ goek⁸
    • Guangdong Romanization: teo⁴ tung³ yi¹ teo⁴, gêg³ tung³ yi¹ gêg³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰɐu̯²¹ tʰʊŋ³³ jiː⁵⁵ tʰɐu̯²¹ kœːk̚³ tʰʊŋ³³ jiː⁵⁵ kœːk̚³/

Idiom

頭痛醫頭，腳痛醫腳

1. to treat symptoms but not the disease; to take stopgap measures rather than getting to the root cause of the problem

Synonyms

• 頭疼醫頭，腳疼醫腳／头疼医头，脚疼医脚
• 頭痛灸頭，腳痛灸腳／头痛灸头，脚痛灸脚
• 頭痛治頭，足痛治足／头痛治头，足痛治足
• 治標不治本／治标不治本