catching a hedgehog with bare hands: can't get a hand on it
Saying俗语俗語
Two-part saying歇后语歇後語 · Rarely used now
Meaning
Describes a problem so thorny that one does not know where to begin. Compare "a hard nut to crack".
Wordplay
下手 (xiàshǒu) literally means "put the hand down" and figuratively "start on a task"; the hands cannot touch the hedgehog and the task cannot be started.