挑三拣四 tiāo sān jiǎn sì pick and choose

Explanation

形容对事物过于挑剔，嫌这嫌那。

Describes someone who is too picky and finds fault with everything.

Origin Story

从前，有个财主，家里堆满了金银财宝，可他依然挑三拣四，对任何东西都不满意。他家的仆人想给他做顿好吃的，结果他嫌菜不好，嫌肉不香，最后什么都没吃，饿着肚子睡着了。第二天，他看到自己堆积如山的财富，心里更不快乐了。他还是不停地挑三拣四，希望找到更好的东西，却忘记了珍惜自己已经拥有的。

cong qian, you ge caizhu, jiali dui man le jin yin caibao, ke ta yiran tiaosan jiansi, dui renhe dongxi dou bu man yi. ta jia de puru xiang gei ta zuo dun hao chi de, jieguo ta xian cai bu hao, xian rou bu xiang, zuihou shenme dou mei chi, e zhe duzi shui zhaole. di er tian, ta kan dao ziji duiji rushan de caifu, xinli geng bu kuaile. ta haishi bu tingdi tiaosan jiansi, xiwang zhaodao geng hao de dongxi, que wangjile zhenxi ziji yijing yongyou de.

Once upon a time, there was a wealthy man whose house was filled with gold and jewels, yet he was always dissatisfied and picky. His servants tried to prepare a delicious meal for him, but he found the vegetables not good enough and the meat too bland. In the end, he ate nothing and fell asleep hungry. The next morning, he saw his wealth and was still unhappy. He remained picky and searched for something better, but forgot to appreciate what he already had.

Usage

作谓语、定语、宾语；形容过分地挑剔。

zuo weiyǔ, dìngyǔ, bǐnyǔ; xiānghóng guòfèn de tiāoqì

Used as predicate, attributive, and object; describes excessively picky behavior.

Examples

• 他买东西总是挑三拣四，让人很无奈。

  ta mai dongxi zongshi tiaosan jiansi, rang ren hen wunai.

  He always picks and chooses when buying things, which makes people very helpless.

• 市场上的商品琳琅满目，但他还是挑三拣四，半天选不出来。

  shichang shang de shangpin linlangmanmu, dan ta haishi tiaosan jiansi, ban tian xuan bu chulai.

  There are various products in the market, but he still picks and chooses, unable to choose for a long time.

Related Idioms

• 挑肥拣瘦

• 挑三嫌四

Opposite Idioms

• 来者不拒

• 照单全收