一粒老鼠屎坏了一锅粥
yī lì lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō zhōu
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1 lit. a piece of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of congee (idiom)
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2 fig. one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch
一颗老鼠屎坏了一锅汤
yī kē lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō tāng
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1 lit. a piece of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of soup (idiom)
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2 fig. one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch
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
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
吴头楚尾
Wú tóu Chǔ wěi
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1 lit. head in Wu and tail in Chu (idiom); fig. close together
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2 head-to-tail
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3 one thing starts where the other leaves off
宁做鸡头，不做凤尾
nìng zuò jī tóu , bù zuò fèng wěi
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1 lit. would rather be a chicken's head than a phoenix's tail (idiom)
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2 fig. to prefer to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big pond
尾大不掉
wěi dà bù diào
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1 large tail obstructs action (idiom); bottom heavy
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2 fig. rendered ineffective by subordinates
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
彻头彻尾
chè tóu chè wěi
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1 lit. from head to tail (idiom); thoroughgoing
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2 through and through
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3 out and out
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4 from top to bottom
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
投鼠忌器
tóu shǔ jì qì
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1 lit. to refrain from shooting at the rat for fear of breaking the vases (idiom)
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2 to not act against an evil so as to prevent harm to innocents
抱头鼠窜
bào tóu shǔ cuàn
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1 to cover one's head and sneak away like a rat (idiom); to flee ignominiously
抱头鼠蹿
bào tóu shǔ cuān
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1 to cover one's head and sneak away like a rat (idiom); to flee ignominiously
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2 also written 抱頭鼠竄|抱头鼠窜
掉书袋
diào shū dài
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1 lit. to wave around one's bookbag (idiom)
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2 fig. to show off one's erudition
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3 a person who does so
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
摇头摆尾
yáo tóu bǎi wěi
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1 to nod one's head and wag one's tail (idiom)
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2 to be well pleased with oneself
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3 to have a lighthearted air
昼短夜长
zhòu duǎn yè cháng
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1 the winter days are short and the nights long (idiom)
有头有尾
yǒu tóu yǒu wěi
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1 where there's a start, there's a finish (idiom); to finish once one starts sth
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2 to carry things through
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3 I started, so I'll finish.
有头无尾
yǒu tóu wú wěi
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1 to start but not finish (idiom); to fail to carry things through
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2 lack of sticking power
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3 short attention span
东家长西家短
dōng jiā cháng xī jiā duǎn