"Shooting three in the morning and four in the evening" originally comes from Zhuangzi's "On the Equality of Things," telling the story of a monkey keeper distributing acorns: when the keeper told the monkeys he would give them three measures of acorns in the morning and four in the evening, the monkeys were furious; when he changed it to four in the morning and three in the evening, the monkeys were delighted. The original meaning was to expose the trickery of manipulating people through deceptive tactics. Later, it came to be used as a metaphor for capriciousness and constant changes of mind, describing people who are inconsistent in their words and actions, behaving one way today and another way tomorrow. This idiom carries a clearly derogatory connotation and is often used to criticize those who break their promises, lack firm convictions, and keep changing their minds. In terms of cultural background, it reflects Daoist thinking on the relationship between names and realities, and also warns people not to be fooled by superficial number games. It is mostly used to describe people whose attitudes, plans, or promises change frequently, leaving their partners or those around them at a loss as to what to do.
📝 Example
1. He is always blowing hot and cold—one day he says he wants to start a business, the next he wants to take the civil service exam, and in the end he achieves nothing. (Describing someone who is fickle and constantly changes their mind.)
2. This company's policies are always chopping and changing, leaving employees at a loss as to what to do. (Describing policies or practices that change frequently and lack consistency.)