Para dizer que você deve “cortar o mal pela raíz” você deve usar “to nip (sth) in the bud”. Assim como em português, nós a usamos para dizer que precisamos eliminar o problema por completo, indo na “raíz do problema”, para que o mesmo não nasça de novo. Em inglês, a ideia é a mesma só muda as palavras. Essa expressão é uma metáfora com plantas. O verbo “to nip” é cortar, e “bud” é o botão de flor – ou seja, cortando-se o botão da flor, ela não cresce mais.
O wesite UsingEnglish.com define:
Ex.: They found out about the computer problem but were able to nip the problem in the bud.
Ex.: If I don’t nip it in the bud, he’ll keep doing it.
Ex.: Nip the evil in the bud.
Ex.: The result raises a hope that it is necessary to nip the bud.
Ex.: If we don’t nip bourgeois liberalization in the bud, we may find ourselves in trouble.
Ex.: The Chinese government prohibits the cultivation of mother drug plants. It has always taken this as a focal point of its drug control work and paid constant attention to it as a way to nip troubles in the bud.
Ex.: If we attack quickly, we can nip the enemy’s plan in the bud.
O wesite UsingEnglish.com define:
If you nip something in the bud, you deal with a problem when it is still small, before it can grow into something serious.
Ex.: They found out about the computer problem but were able to nip the problem in the bud.
Ex.: If I don’t nip it in the bud, he’ll keep doing it.
Ex.: Nip the evil in the bud.
Ex.: The result raises a hope that it is necessary to nip the bud.
Ex.: If we don’t nip bourgeois liberalization in the bud, we may find ourselves in trouble.
Ex.: The Chinese government prohibits the cultivation of mother drug plants. It has always taken this as a focal point of its drug control work and paid constant attention to it as a way to nip troubles in the bud.
Ex.: If we attack quickly, we can nip the enemy’s plan in the bud.