Chop and Change

Learn a great idiom used to describe somebody who can't make his mind up, and usually chops and changes, or changes and chops.

Today's phrase reads “Zhao San Mu Si,” which literally means “morning three night four”. It can be used to describe somebody who keeps changing his mind. Here is the interesting story behind the idiom.

In ancient China, there was an old man who made a living by raising monkeys. Because he lived with the clever animals day and night, he knew his monkeys well, even what they were thinking. He usually he gave the monkeys more food in the morning, and less in the evening. But one day he decided to make a change: less food in the morning, but more in the evening. Actually, it was just a joke the man wanted to play on his monkeys, to see if they were really smart. He told them, “From now on, I'll give each of you three acorns every morning, and four every night. Is that enough?” On hearing this, all the monkeys jumped up angrily to express their disagreement. Seeing this, the old man said, “So how about four acorns every morning and three every evening, as usual?” All the monkeys calmed down at once.

From the old man's suggestion “Three acorns in the morning and four in the evening,” people drew the idiom “Zhao San Mu Si,” which word for word means “Morning three night four.” Today we use it to describe those who often change their mind.