cudgel one 's brains for
As a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is sh ē ns ī K ǔ Su ǒ, meaning to rack one's brains and think hard. It comes from Shi sou Wai Bian er by Hu Yinglin of Ming Dynasty.
explain
Rack your brains and think hard.
source
In the second edition of shisou · waibian written by Hu Yinglin in Ming Dynasty, it is said that "the good sentences of Lingyun are full of deep thought."
Chinese PinYin : shēn sī kǔ suǒ
cudgel one 's brains for
a situation of tripartite confrontation. sān fēn dǐng lì
The head of a donkey is not the mouth of a horse. lǘ tóu bù duì mǎ zuǐ
think of stealing on seeing sb . 's money. jiàn cái qǐ yì