刻舟求剑 (kè zhōu qiú jiàn)

Character breakdown

• 刻 (kè) · 8 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 亥 represents the sound.

• 舟 (zhōu) · 6 strokes

  Pictograph of a boat.

• 求 (qiú) · 7 strokes

  Pictograph of a crawling insect. The current meaning "seek" or "beg" is a phonetic loan.

• 剑 (jiàn) · 9 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 佥 represents the sound. Simplified form of 劍.

Usage

世界在变，我们不能刻舟求剑。

lit. a notch on the side of a boat to locate a sword dropped overboard (idiom); fig. an action made pointless by changed circumstances

shì jiè zài biàn ， wǒ men bù néng kè zhōu qiú jiàn 。