曹cáo操cāo吃chī雞jī肋lèi——jī——食lēi之(jī無lè)味gǔ，棄之可惜

What does 曹操吃雞肋——食之無味，棄之可惜 (cáo cāo chī jī lèi——jī lēi (jī lè) gǔ) mean?

曹操吃雞肋——食之無味，棄之可惜 (cáo cāo chī jī lèi——jī lēi (jī lè) gǔ) is a two-part riddle-saying (xiēhòuyǔ 歇後語). Word for word it reads "Cao Cao eating chicken ribs-tasteless to eat, a pity to throw away." In use it means: Something of marginal value that is not worth keeping but feels wasteful to discard. Refers to the famous Three Kingdoms episode where Cao Cao used 'chicken ribs' as a camp password, signaling his indecision about whether to continue a campaign. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Fire note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Rooster.

Literally: "Cao Cao eating chicken ribs-tasteless to eat, a pity to throw away.."

The reading

Indecision about small things can stall larger progress. The chicken rib is a perfect symbol of the middle ground where logic and sentiment argue without resolution. Sometimes letting go of what barely serves us is the act that frees our hands for something that truly does. Sunk cost is the mind's way of bargaining with time already spent. The bravest choices are often about what we stop doing, not what we start.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typexiēhòuyǔ 歇後語
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element火 Fire
• Zodiac tie雞 Year of the Rooster

Source Historical xiehouyu from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 72

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Courage & Decisive Action, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Rooster, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.