二階から目薬

Meaning: A roundabout effort that has no real effect.

Language: Japanese

Literally: Eye drops from the second floor

Category: Body & Senses

Origin: Trying to drip medicine into an eye from an upstairs window pictures a method too indirect to ever work.

More idioms — Body & Senses

• 喉から手が出る — To want something so badly you can hardly bear it.
• Μου έφυγε το καφάσι — I was utterly shocked.
• Att ha tummen mitt i handen — To be hopelessly clumsy; all thumbs.
• Wiercić komuś dziurę w brzuchu — To nag someone relentlessly.
• Vetää lonkalta — To improvise; to wing it.
• Mít všech pět pohromadě — To be of sound mind.

More Japanese idioms

• 棚から牡丹餅 — An unexpected stroke of good luck.
• 七転び八起き — To keep getting up no matter how often you fall.
• 月とすっぽん — Two things alike at a glance but worlds apart.
• 石橋を叩いて渡る — To be extremely, even excessively, cautious.
• 釘を刺す — To remind someone firmly so they can't back out.
• 顔から火が出る — To burn with embarrassment.

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