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KeKeNet translates "beating a dead horse" as:

多此一举

ICIBA translated it as:

无济于事

Are there any other better alternatives to this translation for beating a dead horse? Hopefully more idiomatic.

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  • search web with e.g. 中文:beating a dead horse, get many hits, e.g.:白費口舌,白費力气,旧事重提,“徒劳无功”,“多此一举”,“白费口舌”,“放马后炮" these can be looked up in dictionaries, e.g. 放马后炮 fire belated shots; criticize (make comments) on (about) sth. after it is already over; do sth. which no longer needs to be done; mount on (flog) a dead horse; start firing after the enemy has gone
    – user6065
    Dec 16, 2017 at 11:12
  • What do you mean by 'more idiomatic'? 多此一举 and 无济于事 are both idiomatic...
    – NS.X.
    Dec 16, 2017 at 19:08
  • @NS.X. Yeah you’re right. Perhaps I mean allegorical?
    – Mou某
    Dec 17, 2017 at 9:53

2 Answers 2

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'Beating a dead horse' implies 'on and on, endlessly debating or citing a same tired subject' (doesn't matter if the subject is settled or not)"

I think it can be described as '沒完沒了' in Chinese. To be specific 'beating a dead horse' is "沒完沒了地重複相同的話題 " (endlessly repeating the same topic)

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You're flogging a dead horse there. He won't listen.
你对牛弹琴。他不听你的话。

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