雞肋

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See also: 鸡肋

Chinese

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fowl; chicken rib
trad. (雞肋/鷄肋) /
simp. (鸡肋)

Etymology

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The figurative sense is 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:

雞肋可惜所得漢中 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
鸡肋可惜所得汉中 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
From: Chen Shou, Records of the Three Kingdoms, circa 3rd century CE
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

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Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Initial () (28) (37)
Final () (39) (131)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division () IV I
Fanqie
Baxter kej lok
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/kei/ /lək̚/
Pan
Wuyun
/kei/ /lək̚/
Shao
Rongfen
/kɛi/ /lək̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/kɛj/ /lək̚/
Li
Rong
/kei/ /lək̚/
Wang
Li
/kiei/ /lək̚/
Bernard
Karlgren
/kiei/ /lək̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
gai1 lak6

Noun

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雞肋

  1. chicken ribs
  2. (figurative) thing of little value or interest, yet pitiable if given up or thrown away

See also

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