弃之可惜，食之无味 — “A pity to discard it, tasteless to eat”

The idiom "弃之可惜，食之无味" (qì zhī kě xī, shí zhī wú wèi), meaning "a pity to discard, tasteless to eat," is famously associated with the historical event of "chicken ribs" (鸡肋, jīlèi) from the Three Kingdoms period.

In 217 AD, after his general Xiahou Yuan was defeated and killed by Liu Bei, leading to the loss of Hanzhong, Cao Cao personally led a vast army to confront Liu Bei. The two forces engaged in a prolonged stalemate lasting several months, during which Cao Cao's army found itself in an increasingly unfavorable and difficult position.

One evening, while dining, Cao Cao observed some chicken ribs in his soup. He casually remarked, "Chicken ribs." His quick-witted advisor, Yang Xiu, understood this subtle comment as a sign of Cao Cao's intention to retreat. Yang Xiu explained that chicken ribs have little meat, making them "tasteless to eat" (食之无味), but discarding them would be "a pity" (弃之可惜) because there is still some substance. This perfectly encapsulated Cao Cao's predicament: he was reluctant to abandon Hanzhong but saw little prospect of victory, making it a difficult and unrewarding situation to continue.

The next day, Cao Cao indeed issued orders for his army to withdraw, thus confirming Yang Xiu's insightful interpretation. From then on, "chicken ribs" and the descriptive phrase "弃之可惜，食之无味" became an idiom for anything that is of little actual use or value but is too much of a waste to discard, symbolizing a dilemma or an unappealing choice.