# 食之無味，棄之可惜
## Chinese

| | | eat; food; to feedeat; food; to feed; animal feed | 's; him/her/it; this | tasteless; having no flavour; dulltasteless; having no flavour; dull; flat; boring | | abandon; relinquish; to discardabandon; relinquish; to discard; to throw away | 's; him/her/it; this | regrettable; too bad; a pityregrettable; too bad; a pity; a shame |
| trad. (食之無味，棄之可惜) | 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) | 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.]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 CEFū 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): sik$^6$ zi$^1$ mou$^4$ mei$^6$, hei$^3$ zi$^1$ ho$^2$ sik$^1$
* 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: shih$^2$ chih$^1$ wu$^2$-wei$^4$, chʻi$^4$ chih$^1$ kʻo$^3$-hsi$^1$
*** 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 : /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: shih$^2$ chih$^1$ wu$^2$-wei$^4$, chʻi$^4$ chih$^1$ kʻo$^3$-hsi$^2$
*** 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 : /ʂʐ̩³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ u³⁵ weɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡ɕʰi⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕi³⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: sik$^6$ zi$^1$ mou$^4$ mei$^6$, hei$^3$ zi$^1$ ho$^2$ sik$^1$
*** Yale: sihk jī mòuh meih, hei jī hó sīk
*** Cantonese Pinyin: sik$^9$ dzi$^1$ mou$^4$ mei$^6$, hei$^3$ dzi$^1$ ho$^2$ sik$^7$
*** Guangdong Romanization: xig$^6$ ji$^1$ mou$^4$ méi$^6$, héi$^3$ ji$^1$ ho$^2$ xig$^1$
*** Sinological IPA : /sɪk̚² t͡siː⁵⁵ mou̯²¹ mei̯²² hei̯³³ t͡siː⁵⁵ hɔː³⁵ sɪk̚⁵/

### Idiom

食之無味，棄之可惜
* too arduous to relish, too wasteful to discard.(some things have no apparent value, but one still can't bear to throw them away)
    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)