取長補短

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See also: 取长补短

Chinese

 
to take; to get; to choose
to take; to get; to choose; to fetch
 
long; length; forever
long; length; forever; always; constantly; chief; head; elder; to grow; to develop
 
to repair; to patch; to mend
to repair; to patch; to mend; to make up for; to fill (a vacancy); to supplement
lack; short
trad. (取長補短)
simp. (取长补短)

Etymology

From Mencius (《孟子·滕文公上》):

長補短五十可以 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
长补短五十可以 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Mencius, c. 4th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Jīn téng, jué cháng bǔ duǎn, jiāng wǔshí lǐ yě, yóu kěyǐ wèi shàn guó.
Now, Teng, taking its length with its breadth, will amount, I suppose, to fifty li. It is small, but still sufficient to make a good State.

Pronunciation


Idiom

取長補短

  1. to learn from others' merits to offset one's weaknesses

Synonyms