南辕北辙南轅北轍

nán yuán běi zhé

Meaning

to act in a way that defeats one's purpose (idiom)

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Characters

南nánsouth; southern; southward十冂丷干辕yuánaxle; magistrate's office; surname车袁北běinorth; northern; northward匕辙zhétrack, rut; stuck in a rut车育攵

Examples

你要南辕北辙了。

Nǐ yào nán yuán běi zhé le.

You're not going in the right direction.