吃人家的嘴软，拿人家的手短
Traditional: 吃人家的嘴軟，拿人家的手短Dictionary entry
lit. the mouth that has been fed by others is soft, the hand that has received doesn't reach (idiom)
What does 吃人家的嘴软，拿人家的手短 mean?
吃人家的嘴软，拿人家的手短 (chī rén jiā de zuǐ ruǎn , ná rén jiā de shǒu duǎn) has the following dictionary meaning.
1lit. the mouth that has been fed by others is soft, the hand that has received doesn't reach (idiom)
2fig. one is partial to those from whom presents have been accepted
Character breakdown
Open each character to see its own meanings and vocabulary links.
吃chīto eat; to consume · to eat at (a cafeteria etc)人rénperson; people · CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2]家jiāused in 傢伙|家伙[jia1 huo5] and 傢俱|家俱[jia1 ju4]的deof; ~'s (possessive particle) · (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun)嘴zuǐmouth · beak软ruǎnsoft · flexible拿náold variant of 拿[na2]手shǒuhand · (formal) to hold
Reviewed examples
No reviewed example dialogues yet. This page only shows verified dictionary data until a context lesson is published.
How to pronounce 吃人家的嘴软，拿人家的手短
吃人家的嘴软，拿人家的手短
Tap to hear Standard Mandarin.
Base dictionary data: CC-CEDICT · CC BY-SA 4.0.