do more harm than good

Meaning: To make matters worse while trying to help.

Language: English

Literally: (Already vivid in English)

Example: “Watering the cactus every day did more harm than good.”

Category: Daily Life

Origin: A plain weighing of harm against good, found in English from the 16th century and older still in Latin moral writing.

Equivalents in other languages

go through the motions — To do something without care or real effort.
mark my words — Remember what I am telling you; it will turn out to be true.
give someone the runaround — To put someone off with excuses instead of a straight answer.
pin the blame on someone — To make someone take responsibility for a fault, often unfairly.
a closed book — Something one knows nothing about, or someone impossible to understand.
a trump card — A decisive advantage kept in reserve.

drag one's feet — To delay deliberately.
be tone-deaf — To be unable to tell musical notes apart; also, to have no sense of how others feel.
throw dust in someone's eyes — To mislead someone by distracting them.
when pigs fly — Never.
lead someone up the garden path — To deceive someone, keeping them hopeful along the way.
packed like sardines — Crowded very tightly together.

Más terco/a que una mula — Hopelessly obstinate — no argument, fact, or force of nature will shift their position.
Pareces un pulpo en un garaje — You're completely out of place — flailing around uselessly in an environment that makes n…
Che rompiscatole — What an insufferable pest — someone who endlessly pesters and never lets you be.