搜肠刮肚 sōu cháng guā dù rack one's brains

Explanation

形容费尽心思，苦思冥想。

Describes someone who is making a great effort to think.

Origin Story

话说唐朝时期，一位名叫李白的诗人，他居住在四川的一座山脚下。有一天，他突然接到皇上的命令，要他三天之内写一首赞颂大唐盛世的诗歌。李白接到命令后，心里既兴奋又紧张。兴奋的是皇上对他如此重视，紧张的是时间紧迫，这首诗必须写得完美无缺，才能配得上大唐盛世的辉煌。于是，李白夜以继日地苦思冥想，搜肠刮肚地构思诗句。他翻阅了大量的书籍，查找了大量的资料，试图从中找到灵感。然而，时间一天天过去，诗歌却迟迟没有写成。他的眉头紧锁，脸上露出了焦虑的神情。他不断地踱步，不断地思考，仿佛要把自己的大脑都掏空了似的。终于，在第三天凌晨，他终于完成了这首诗歌。这首诗歌写得非常出色，既赞美了大唐的繁荣昌盛，又体现了他独特的诗歌风格。当他把诗歌呈献给皇上时，皇上非常满意，并对他赞赏有加。从那以后，李白的诗歌名扬天下，他的才华也得到了世人的认可。

huà shuō táng cháo shíqī, yī wèi míng jiào lǐ bái de shī rén, tā jū zhù zài sì chuān de yī zuò shān jiǎo xià. yǒu yī tiān, tā tūrán jiē dào huáng shang de mìng lìng, yào tā sān tiān zhī nèi xiě yī shǒu zàn sòng dà táng shèng shì de shīgē. lǐ bái jiē dào mìng lìng hòu, xīn lǐ jì xīngfèn yòu jǐnzhāng. xīngfèn de shì huáng shang duì tā rú cǐ zhòngshì, jǐnzhāng de shì shíjiān jǐnpò, zhè shǒu shīgē bìxū xiě de wánměi wú quē, cái néng pèi de shàng dà táng shèng shì de huīhuáng. yú shì, lǐ bái yè yǐ jì rì de kǔ sī míng xiǎng, sōu cháng guā dù de gòusī shī jù. tā fān yuè le dà liàng de shū jí, chá zhǎo le dà liàng de zīliào, shìtú cóng zhōng zhǎodào línggǎn. rán'ér, shíjiān yī tiān tiān guò qù, shīgē què chí chí méi yǒu xiě chéng. tā de méi tóu jǐn suǒ, liǎn shang lú chū le jiāo lǜ de shén qíng. tā bù duàn de duóbù, bù duàn de sīkǎo, fǎngfú yào bǎ zìjǐ de dà nǎo dōu tāo kōng le sì de. zhōngyú, zài dì sān tiān líng chén, tā zhōngyú wánchéng le zhè shǒu shīgē. zhè shǒu shīgē xiě de fēicháng chū sè, jì zàn měi le dà táng de fánróng shèngshèng, yòu tǐxiàn le tā dú tè de shīgē fēnggé. dāng tā bǎ shīgē chéngxiàn gěi huáng shang shí, huáng shang fēicháng mǎnyì, bìng duì tā zànshǎng yǒu jiā. cóng nà yǐ hòu, lǐ bái de shīgē míng yáng tiān xià, tā de cái huá yě dédào le shì rén de rènkě.

In the Tang Dynasty, there was a poet named Li Bai who lived at the foot of a mountain in Sichuan. One day, he suddenly received an order from the emperor to write a poem praising the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty within three days. After receiving the order, Li Bai was both excited and nervous. He was excited because the emperor attached such importance to him, but he was nervous because time was pressing, and this poem had to be written perfectly to match the splendor of the Tang Dynasty. So, Li Bai worked day and night, racking his brains to conceive of the verses. He read a large number of books and consulted a large amount of information, trying to find inspiration. However, as time went by, the poem was still not finished. His brows were furrowed, and his face showed a look of anxiety. He kept pacing back and forth, thinking hard, as if he wanted to empty his brain. Finally, in the early morning of the third day, he finally completed this poem. This poem was written very well; it both praised the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty and reflected his unique poetic style. When he presented the poem to the emperor, the emperor was very satisfied and praised him highly. From then on, Li Bai's poems became famous all over the world, and his talent was also recognized by the world.

Usage

用于形容费尽心思，绞尽脑汁。

yòng yú xiáoróng fèijìn xīnsī, jiǎo jìn nǎo zhī

Used to describe someone making a great effort to think hard.

Examples

• 为了这次考试，他搜肠刮肚地复习了很久。

  wèile zhè cì kǎoshì, tā sōu cháng guā dù de fùxí le hěn jiǔ.

  He spent a long time studying for the exam.

• 他绞尽脑汁，搜肠刮肚地想出一个办法。

  tā jiǎo jìn nǎo zhī, sōu cháng guā dù de xiǎng chū yīgè bànfǎ

  He racked his brains to come up with a solution.

Related Idioms

• 冥思苦想

• 绞尽脑汁

• 挖空心思

Opposite Idioms

• 漫不经心

• 无动于衷