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.]

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 they are not tasty 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 ㄓㄨˊ ㄨㄟˋ, ㄑㄧˋ ㄓㄎㄜˇ ㄒㄧ, ㄕˊ ㄓㄨˊ ㄨㄟˋ, ㄑㄧˋ ㄓㄎㄜˇ 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 ㄓㄨˊ ㄨㄟˋ, ㄑㄧˋ ㄓㄎㄜˇ 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 kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ɕi⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shí zhī wúwèi, qì zhī kěxí
  - Zhuyin: ㄕˊ ㄓㄨˊ ㄨㄟˋ, ㄑㄧˋ ㄓㄎㄜˇ 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 kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ɕi³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - 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

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.