Chinese water torture

Meaning: A form oftorturein whichwaterisrepetitivelydrippedonto theforeheadof a victim who isrestrained.2002, Greg Emmanuel,Extreme Encounters,→ISBN:It has come to be known asChinese water torture, but was actually invented by a sixteenth-century Italian lawyer named Hippolytus de Marsiliis.2006, Jacqueline Pearce,The Truth About Rats (and Dogs),→ISBN, page 1:The plunk of the keys was beginning to feel likeChinese water torture, each note a painful drip. Is that a real thing?Chinese water torture, I mean.2007, Dan Clark,The Thrill of Teaching,→ISBN, page61:My name is General Robinson Risner. I was the highest-ranking prisoner-of-war in the Vietnam War. I spent seven years locked up in solitary confinement. I was tortured beyond belief. I limp because of it. Today I still have a hole in the front of my skull from theChinese water tortureinflicted on me.2010, Erin Barrett, Jack Mingo,Just Curious About History, Jeeves,→ISBN, page220:Is it true that a person really went crazy when subjected to the ancient practice ofChinese water torture?; (idiomatic,by extension)Anyrepeatedirritationthatbuildstodelivercumulativedamage.1994, James Bovard,Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty,→ISBN, page162:The growth of subsidies is aChinese water tortureon individual liberty.2007, Theresa Alan,Getting Married,→ISBN, page 8:The end wasn't about money, nobody had an affair, and no firearms were involved. I think what I learned from the experience is that if there are things that bother you before you get married and you can't even discuss them, can't even talk about how to change or deal with whatever issues are going on, run. It was an exercise inChinese water torturefor me.2011, Alun Carter, Nicholas Bishop,Seeing Red: Twelve Tumultuous Years in Welsh Rugby,→ISBN:Compared to Hansen's own blitzkrieg appointment, it was a drawn-out affair, like some kind of politicalChinese water torture.

Examples:

EN: And then they tried the Chinese water torture.
ES: Y entonces intentaron la tortura china del agua.
EN: The communal life is definitely an exquisite Chinese water torture.
ES: La vida en común es un suplicio chino muy refinado.
EN: Oh, why don't you try the Chinese water torture?
ES: ¿Por qué no ensayas la tortura china del agua?
EN: Playing Chinese water torture.
ES: Estamos jugando a la tortura china por agua.
EN: I'm sure you recognize this as a variation of the legendary Chinese water torture.
ES: Estoy seguro de que reconoces esto como una variación de la legendaria tortura china.
EN: Or do you want the Chinese water torture?
ES: ¿O quieres la tortura china del agua?
EN: You know, sometimes you remind me of the Chinese water torture.
ES: ¿Sabes? A veces me recuerdas a la tortura del agua china.
EN: Sometimes you remind me of the relentless Chinese water torture.
ES: A veces me recuerdas a la implacable tortura de la gota china.
EN: The rack? The Chinese water torture?
ES: ¿La tortura de agua china?
EN: - Chinese water torture!
ES: - Basta, Richard.
EN: I find that extremely comforting that we're so close, but... I also find it like Chinese water torture that we're so close, because you have to find the right six people to make the connection.
ES: Me reconforta saber que estamos tan próximos, aunque también me parece una tortura china, porque tienes que encontrar a las seis personas para lograr la conexión.
EN: Shoot, and I was hoping we could go out for Chinese water torture.
ES: Dispara, entonces ahora saldremos a la tortura china del agua.
EN: He could just erupt on a moment's notice and put you through just the ultimate Chinese water torture on any little thing.
ES: Podía estallar en cualquier momento... y hacerte pasar una tortura por cualquier tontería.
EN: To Johnny, that must be like the Chinese water torture.
ES: Para Johnny, eso debe haber sido una tortura china.
EN: You want me to use a gun, knife? Chinese water torture or what?
ES: Sí. ¿Quieres que use una pistola, un cuchillo, tortura china o qué?

Note: the examples for non latin scripts have a high likelihood of mistakes, we do not own any of this data and it is sourced from Wiktionary, the NLLB database and Opensubtitles. Please help us improve this by contributing correct examples. We will be working to fix this issue over time however it is a bigger issue due to the the difficulties in dealing with non latin scripts and grammatical structures(non-romantic/european languages have lower resources as well ).