ChinesePod

1 lit. use others' strengths to make up for one's weak points (idiom from Mencius)
2 to use this in place of that
3 what you lose on the swings, you win on the roundabouts

吃人家的嘴软，拿人家的手短

chī rén jiā de zuǐ ruǎn , ná rén jiā de shǒu duǎn

1 lit. the mouth that has been fed by others is soft, the hand that has received doesn't reach (idiom)
2 fig. one is partial to those from whom presents have been accepted

小玲，你在给谁发短信啊？

Xiǎolíng ，nǐ zài gěi shéi fā duǎnxìn a ？

Xiao Ling, who are you texting?

我在发短信给老板。

wǒ zài fāduǎnxìn gěi lǎobǎn 。

I am sending a text message to my boss.

不可能，她早上发短信给我说她的班机取消了，所以得多留一天。

bù kěnéng ，tā zǎoshang fā duǎnxìn gěi wǒ shuō tā de bānjī qǔxiāo le ，suǒyǐ děi duō liú yītiān 。

That's impossible. She sent me a text this morning saying that her flight was cancelled. She has to stay an extra day.

如果说不出口，那就写邮件或者发短信吧。

rúguǒ shuōbuchūkǒu ，nà jiù xiě yóujiàn huòzhě fā duǎnxìn ba 。

If you can't say it, then just write a letter or a text message.

那先留个手机号码吧。有了新产品我们会发短信给你。

nà xiān liú gè shǒujī hàomǎ ba 。yǒu le xīn chǎnpǐn wǒmen huì fā duǎnxìn gěi nǐ 。

Then leave your phone number first. If we have any new products, we'll send you a text message.

手机嘛，能打电话，发短信就行了。不过我是想换一个了。

shǒujī ma ，néng dǎ diànhuà ，fā duǎnxìn jiù xíng le 。bùguò wǒ shì xiǎng huàn yī gè le 。

Cell phones... being able to make calls and send text messages is enough. But I do want to get a new one.