挑花眼

tiāohuāyǎn

phrase

Meanings

1 to be dazzled by too many choices
2 to be bewildered (lit. to pick until your eyes blur)

Characters

to pick / select

flower; blurred / dazzled

Examples

HSK 3

商场里裙子太多了，我都挑花眼了。

Shāngchǎng lǐ qúnzi tài duō le, wǒ dōu tiāohuāyǎn le.

There are so many dresses in the mall, my eyes are blurring from picking.

HSK 3

菜单这么长，挑花眼也点不出来。

Càidān zhème cháng, tiāohuāyǎn yě diǎn bù chūlái.

The menu is so long I can't even decide what to order.

Tips

usage

Almost always used with 了 in the pattern 都挑花眼了 - a humorous, conversational complaint that there are too many options. Modern equivalent of the English 'choice paralysis'.

memory

Literally 'pick until flowers in eyes' - 花眼 (huāyǎn) on its own means 'blurry vision/farsightedness' (the visual 'flowers' you see when your eyes can't focus). Pick so much that your eyes go fuzzy.

Stroke Order

挑 tiāo

花 huā

眼 yǎn