吃人家的嘴软,拿人家的手短 chī rén jiā de zuǐ ruǎn , ná rén jiā de shǒu duǎn

accept favors, hard to speak or act freely

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

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

Characters

Character Meaning
to eat; to consume; to eat at (a cafeteria etc)
person; people; man
home; family; classifier for families or businesses
(used after an attribute)
mouth; beak; spout (of teapot etc)
soft; flexible; variant of ruǎn
to take; to hold
person; people; man
home; family; classifier for families or businesses
(used after an attribute)
hand; personal(ly); person engaged in certain types of work
short; brief; to lack