以小人之心,度君子之腹
yǐ xiǎo rén zhī xīn , duó jūn zǐ zhī fù
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1 to gauge the heart of a gentleman with one's own mean measure (idiom)
剖腹藏珠
pōu fù cáng zhū
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1 lit. cutting one's stomach to hide a pearl (idiom)
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2 fig. wasting a lot of effort on trivialities
取长补短
qǔ cháng bǔ duǎn
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1 lit. use others' strengths to make up for one's weak points (idiom from Mencius)
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2 to use this in place of that
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3 what you lose on the swings, you win on the roundabouts
口蜜腹剑
kǒu mì fù jiàn
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1 lit. honeyed words, a sword in the belly (idiom); fig. hypocritical and murderous
吃人家的嘴软,拿人家的手短
chī rén jiā de zuǐ ruǎn , ná rén jiā de shǒu duǎn
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1 lit. the mouth that has been fed by others is soft, the hand that has received doesn't reach (idiom)
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2 fig. one is partial to those from whom presents have been accepted
大腹便便
dà fù pián pián
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1 big-bellied (idiom)
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2 paunchy
展翅高飞
zhǎn chì gāo fēi
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1 to spread one's wings and soar (idiom)
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2 to develop one's abilities freely
张家长,李家短
Zhāng jiā cháng , Lǐ jiā duǎn
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1 lit. the Zhangs are better off than the Lis (idiom); to gossip about the neighbors
心腹之患
xīn fù zhī huàn
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1 lit. calamity within one's bosom (idiom); major trouble hidden within
截长补短
jié cháng bǔ duǎn
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1 take from the long to supplement the short (idiom)
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2 to offset each other's deficiencies
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3 to complement each other
推心置腹
tuī xīn zhì fù
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1 to give one's bare heart into sb else's keeping (idiom); sb has one's absolute confidence
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2 to trust completely
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3 to confide in sb with entire sincerity
插翅难飞
chā chì nán fēi
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1 lit. even given wings, you couldn't fly (idiom); fig. impossible to escape
扬长避短
yáng cháng bì duǎn
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1 to foster strengths and avoid weaknesses (idiom)
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2 to play to one's strengths
昼短夜长
zhòu duǎn yè cháng
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1 the winter days are short and the nights long (idiom)
东家长西家短
dōng jiā cháng xī jiā duǎn
残年短景
cán nián duǎn jǐng
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1 at the end of the year (idiom)
满腹牢骚
mǎn fù láo sāo
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1 lit. belly full of complaints (idiom)
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2 discontent
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3 always moaning and complaining
满腹经纶
mǎn fù jīng lún
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1 full of political wisdom (idiom)
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2 politically astute
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3 with encyclopedic experience of state policy
争长论短
zhēng cháng lùn duǎn
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1 lit. to argue who is right and wrong (idiom); to quibble
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2 a storm in a teacup
短中抽长
duǎn zhōng chōu cháng
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1 to make the best of a bad job
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2 to make the best use of limited resources (idiom)