一针见血
yī zhēn jiàn xiě
to go straight to the heart of the matter
Character by character
一yī
one
one
针zhēn
needle
needle
见jiàn
see
see
血xiě
blood
blood
Example
他的批评一针见血，指出了问题的关键。
His criticism went straight to the point and named the crux of the problem.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
血 is read xiě here.
Learn this in Lesson 210 · HSK 9+: 鲁迅与白话文 (Lu Xun and the birth of modern writing)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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