食之無味，棄之可惜

Chinese

Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)

Etymology

Adapted from a story about Yang Xiu's interpretation of Cao Cao's thoughts in Sanguozhi , and became well known through its adapted version in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms:

夫雞肋，棄之如可惜，食之無所得，以比漢中，知王欲還也。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
夫鸡肋，弃之如可惜，食之无所得，以比汉中，知王欲还也。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
From: Chen Shou, Records of the Three Kingdoms, circa 3rd century CE
Fū jīlèi, qì zhī rú kěxī, shí zhī wú suǒdé, yǐ bǐ hànzhōng, zhī wáng yù hái yě. [Pinyin]
As for chicken ribs, it's pitiful to throw them away, yet there is not much (meat) to eat. If we know that the King (Cao Cao) is using them to compare Hanzhong, we can know that he wants to retreat.

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): shí zhī wúwèi, qì zhī kěxī, shí zhī wúwèi, qì zhī kěxí
    (Zhuyin): ㄕˊ ㄓ ㄨˊ ㄨㄟˋ , ㄑㄧˋ ㄓ ㄎㄜˇ ㄒㄧ, ㄕˊ ㄓ ㄨˊ ㄨㄟˋ , ㄑㄧˋ ㄓ ㄎㄜˇ ㄒㄧˊ
  • Cantonese (Jyutping): sik6 zi1 mou4 mei6, hei3 zi1 ho2 sik1
  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese, Mainland)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: shí zhī wúwèi, qì zhī kěxī
      • Zhuyin: ㄕˊ ㄓ ㄨˊ ㄨㄟˋ , ㄑㄧˋ ㄓ ㄎㄜˇ ㄒㄧ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: shíh jhih wúwèi, cì jhih kěsi
      • Wade–Giles: shih2 chih1 wu2-wei4, chʻi4 chih1 kʻo3-hsi1
      • Yale: shŕ jr̄ wú-wèi-, chì jr̄ kě-syī
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyr jy wuwey, chih jy keeshi
      • Palladius: ши чжи увэй, ци чжи кэси (ši čži uvɛj, ci čži kɛsi)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /ʂʐ̩³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ u³⁵⁻⁵⁵ weɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡ɕʰi⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕi⁵⁵/
    • (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: shí zhī wúwèi, qì zhī kěxí
      • Zhuyin: ㄕˊ ㄓ ㄨˊ ㄨㄟˋ , ㄑㄧˋ ㄓ ㄎㄜˇ ㄒㄧˊ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: shíh jhih wúwèi, cì jhih kěsí
      • Wade–Giles: shih2 chih1 wu2-wei4, chʻi4 chih1 kʻo3-hsi2
      • Yale: shŕ jr̄ wú-wèi-, chì jr̄ kě-syí
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyr jy wuwey, chih jy keeshyi
      • Palladius: ши чжи увэй, ци чжи кэси (ši čži uvɛj, ci čži kɛsi)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /ʂʐ̩³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ u³⁵⁻⁵⁵ weɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡ɕʰi⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕi³⁵/
  • Cantonese

Idiom

食之無味，棄之可惜

  1. too arduous to relish, too wasteful to discard.(some things have no apparent value, but one still can't bear to throw them away)

See also
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.