雞肋

The figurative sense is from a story about Yang Xiu's interpretation of Cao Cao's thoughts in Sanguozhi , and became well known through its adapted version in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms:

夫雞肋，棄之如可惜，食之無所得，以比漢中，知王欲還也。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]

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夫鸡肋，弃之如可惜，食之无所得，以比汉中，知王欲还也。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

From: Chen Shou, Records of the Three Kingdoms, circa 3^rd century CE

Fū jīlèi, qì zhī rú kěxī, shí zhī wú suǒdé, yǐ bǐ hànzhōng, zhī wáng yù hái yě. [Pinyin]

As for chicken ribs, it's pitiful to throw them away, yet there is not much (meat) to eat. If we know that the King (Cao Cao) is using them to compare Hanzhong, we can know that he wants to retreat.

雞肋

1. chicken ribs
2. (figurative) thing of little value or interest, yet pitiable if given up or thrown away

• 食之無味，棄之可惜／食之无味，弃之可惜 (shí zhī wúwèi, qì zhī kěxī)