取长补短 in English qu3 chang2 bu3 duan3 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) use others' strengths to make up for one's weak points (idiomatic expression from Mencius)
  • to use this in place of that
  • what you lose on the swings, you win on the roundabouts

Simplified Characters

取 长 补 短

Traditional Characters

取 長 補 短

Pinyin

qu3 chang2 bu3 duan3

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

取qu3to take 长zhang3length 补bu3to repair 短duan3short