囫囵吞枣
hú lún tūn zǎo
to swallow without digesting
Character by character
囫hú
whole
whole
囵lún
whole
whole
吞tūn
swallow
swallow
枣zǎo
dates
dates
Example
读书不能囫囵吞枣。
You can't just gulp down what you read without digesting it.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
From an old joke about a man who swallowed jujubes whole to spare his teeth; now for learning without digesting.
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