Chinese water torture

It has come to be known as Chinese water torture, but was actually invented by a sixteenth-century Italian lawyer named Hippolytus de Marsiliis.

2002, Greg Emmanuel, Extreme Encounters, →ISBN

The plunk of the keys was beginning to feel like Chinese water torture, each note a painful drip. Is that a real thing? Chinese water torture, I mean.

2006, Jacqueline Pearce, The Truth About Rats (and Dogs), →ISBN, page 1

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 the Chinese water torture inflicted on me.

2007, Dan Clark, The Thrill of Teaching, →ISBN, page 61

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 in Chinese water torture for me.

2007, Theresa Alan, Getting Married, →ISBN, page 8

Compared to Hansen's own blitzkrieg appointment, it was a drawn-out affair, like some kind of political Chinese water torture.

2011, Alun Carter, Nicholas Bishop, Seeing Red: Twelve Tumultuous Years in Welsh Rugby, →ISBN