柿子挑軟的捏 shì zi tiāo ruǎn de niē

bullies pick soft targets

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. bullies pick soft targets
  2. 2. fig. it's the weak (i.e. 软柿子ruǎn shì zi) who get picked on
  3. 3. lit. it's the soft persimmons that people choose to squeeze (idiom)

Characters

Character Meaning
柿 shì HSK 4
persimmon; old variant of 柿shì
子 zi HSK 1
(noun suffix); son; child
挑 tiāo HSK 5
to choose; to pick; to nitpick
軟 ruǎn
soft; flexible; variant of 軟ruǎn
的 de HSK 1
(used after an attribute)
捏 niē HSK 6
to pinch (with one's fingers); to knead; to make up