挑三拣四

挑三揀四

tiāosān-jiǎnsì

idiom #25,878

Meanings

1 to be picky
2 to be choosy
3 to nitpick

Characters

to pick, to choose

to select, to sort through

Examples

HSK 4

她对食物挑三拣四，让厨师很头疼。

Tā duì shíwù tiāosān-jiǎnsì, ràng chúshī hěn tóuténg.

She is very fussy about food, which gives the chef headaches.

HSK 5

找工作不能总是挑三拣四，有机会就要抓住。

Zhǎo gōngzuò bùnéng zǒngshì tiāosān-jiǎnsì, yǒu jīhuì jiùyào zhuāzhù.

When looking for a job, you can't always be picky - seize opportunities when they come.

Tips

memory

Picking (挑) three and selecting (拣) four - you keep sorting through everything, picking this one, rejecting that one. The numbers 三 and 四 just emphasize the repeated, excessive picking.

Stroke Order

挑 tiāo

三 sān

拣 jiǎn

四 sì