食之無味，棄之可惜

See also: 食之无味，弃之可惜

Chinese

		eat; food; to feed eat; food; to feed; animal feed	's; him/her/it; this	tasteless; having no flavour; dull tasteless; having no flavour; dull; flat; boring		abandon; relinquish; to discard abandon; relinquish; to discard; to throw away	's; him/her/it; this	regrettable; too bad; a pity regrettable; too bad; a pity; a shame
trad. (食之無味，棄之可惜)		食	之	無味	，	棄	之	可惜
simp. (食之无味，弃之可惜)		食	之	无味	，	弃	之	可惜
Literally: “some food may lack flavor, but it would still be a pity to throw it away”.

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.]

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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 3^rd 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

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• 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 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 weɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡ɕʰi⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕi³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sik⁶ zi¹ mou⁴ mei⁶, hei³ zi¹ ho² sik¹
    • Yale: sihk jī mòuh meih, hei jī hó sīk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sik⁹ dzi¹ mou⁴ mei⁶, hei³ dzi¹ ho² sik⁷
    • Guangdong Romanization: xig⁶ ji¹ mou⁴ méi⁶, héi³ ji¹ ho² xig¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɪk̚² t͡siː⁵⁵ mou̯²¹ mei̯²² hei̯³³ t͡siː⁵⁵ hɔː³⁵ sɪk̚⁵/

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)

   • 李嘉誠心有不甘棄20年夢想食之無味棄之可惜 [MSC, trad.]
     李嘉诚心有不甘弃20年梦想食之无味弃之可惜 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2005: anon., www.tynews.com.cn

     Lǐ Jiāchéng xīn yǒu bùgān qì 20 nián mèngxiǎng shí zhī wúwèi qì zhī kěxī [Pinyin]

     Li Ka-shing did not wish to let go of a twenty year dream of his, he just could not bear to part with it.

See also

• 雞肋／鸡肋 (jīlèi)