吃软不吃硬 chī ruǎn bù chī yìng

amenable to coaxing but not coercion

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. amenable to coaxing but not coercion
  2. 2. lit. eats soft food, but refuses hard food (idiom)

Characters

Character Meaning
to eat; to consume; to eat at (a cafeteria etc)
soft; flexible; variant of ruǎn
not; no; (negative prefix)
to eat; to consume; to eat at (a cafeteria etc)
hard; firm; stiff