📖 Meaning
Literally meaning to quench one's thirst by looking at plums, this idiom refers to consoling oneself with empty hopes and illusions. It describes using wishful thinking or imagination to comfort oneself when reality offers no real satisfaction, just like its better-known counterpart 望梅止渴 (wàng méi zhǐ kě).
📜 Origin Story
The idiom derives from the famous tale of Cao Cao (曹操) during the Three Kingdoms period (三国时期): on a long march his parched soldiers were about to collapse, so Cao Cao pointed ahead and falsely claimed a grove of sour plums awaited them. At the mere thought, the soldiers' mouths watered and their thirst seemed relieved, letting the army press on. The story is recorded in the ancient collection Shishuo Xinyu (《世说新语》), giving rise to 望梅止渴. The variant 止渴望梅 appears in the Qing dynasty play 皖江血·拒敌 by Sun Yulin (孙雨林), where it is used to mock empty consolation as ultimately useless.
💡 Example Usage
别再止渴望梅了，空想无法解决眼下的难题。
Stop consoling yourself with illusions—wishful thinking won't solve the problems before you.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 止渴望梅
- Pinyin: zhǐ kě wàng méi
- Literal Translation: stop, thirst, expect, plum
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4