一日一成语【53】rob Peter to pay Paul

rob Peter to pay Paul

Peter和Paul都是英语中很普通的人名，它们在这个成语中并不表示两个指定的人物，只是泛指两个普通的人，就好比汉语中的“张三、李四”。因此rob Peter to pay Paul无非就是“抢了东家去还西家”，“挖肉补疮”的意思了，表明某一做法是无济于事的。不过，它不限于用在和偿还金钱债务有关的事情上，在其他方面，人们也会做出捉襟见肘的事来：

He didn’t dare to tell his parents about the money he owed Jack so he had to borrow from his sister. Obviously this is no solution. He was just robbing Peter to pay Paul.
他不敢告诉爸妈他欠杰克钱的事，他只能向姐姐借钱。这显然不是个办法，只不过是借一家还一家罢了。

It is just like robbing Peter to pay Paul if you try to prepare for the English exam during a maths class.
如果你在数学课上准备英语考试，那好比是挖肉补疮。

Using next month’s pocket money in advance is like robbing Peter to pay Paul.
提前使用下个月的零用钱是无济于事的。