Chinese idiom · 成语
望梅止渴
Meaning
To quench thirst by imagining plums; to console oneself with false hopes.
Character by character
望gaze, hope
梅plum
止stop
渴thirst
Origin and story
From New Tales of the World (Shì shuō xīn yǔ). Cao Cao motivated his thirsty troops by describing a nearby plum grove, easing their discomfort temporarily.