朝三暮四

zhāosān-mùsì

idiom HSK 7-9 #43,537

Meanings

1 fickle; to blow hot and cold
2 to chop and change; inconsistent

Characters

Literally 'three in the morning, four in the evening' - from a fable about a monkey trainer who tricked monkeys by changing when they got their nuts.

Examples

HSK 1

他对女朋友朝三暮四，谁都不喜欢他。

Tā duì nǚpéngyou zhāosān-mùsì, shéi dōu bù xǐhuan tā.

He's fickle with girlfriends, and nobody likes him.

HSK 7-9

做事不能朝三暮四，要有始有终。

Zuòshì bùnéng zhāosān-mùsì, yào yǒushǐ-yǒuzhōng.

You can't keep changing your mind - you need to follow through.

Tips

history

From Zhuangzi: a monkey keeper offered '3 nuts in the morning, 4 at night.' The monkeys were furious. He changed it to '4 in the morning, 3 at night' - and they were delighted. The original parable was about superficial changes, but the modern meaning shifted to describe fickleness.

Stroke Order

朝 cháo

三 sān

暮 mù

四 sì