变卦

Mandarin

simpl.		变卦
trad.		變卦

Etymology

Literally, "to change the divinatory symbols."

Verb

变卦 (simplified, Pinyin biànguà, traditional 變卦)

1. (slang) to go back on one's word
   • 2009: Li Ying (李颖) (ed.), “虐囚门”：奥巴马为何变卦

     其次，奥巴马“变卦”是因为担心虐囚照片公布后会进一步激化美国国内两党矛盾，从而使他推行“新政”受到干扰。

     Secondly, the reason Obama went back on his word was the fear that publishing photographs of prisoner abuse in the United States would intensify contradictions between the two US parties, thus forcing him to modify the implementation of the "New Deal".

2. (slang) (of a situation) to change drastically

References

• 2005, Yu Feng; Zhijie Jia, Jie Cai, Yaohua Shi, Judith M. Amory, Pop Chinese: A Cheng & Tsui Handbook Of Contemporary Colloquial Expressions (Cheng & Tsui Asian Dictionary Series) (话是这么说：中国当代流行语手册) (in English/Chinese), Boston: Cheng & Tsui, ISBN 0-88727-424-2:
• 2004, Shan (ed.) Cao, Speaking Chinese: 500 Daily Expressions (实用汉语口语五百局), edition 5th (in English/Chinese), Beijing: New World Press (新世界出版社), ISBN 7-80005-385-7: