吃 人 家 的 嘴 软，拿 人 家 的 手 短

chī rén jiā de zuǐ ruǎn , ná rén jiā de shǒu duǎndictionary entry

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

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-dd467c85919ae9ae. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

吃人家的嘴軟，拿人家的手短 吃人家的嘴软，拿人家的手短 [chi1 ren2 jia1 de5 zui3 ruan3 , na2 ren2 jia1 de5 shou3 duan3] /lit. the mouth that has been fed by others is soft, the hand that has received doesn't reach (idiom)/fig. one is partial to those from whom presents have been accepted/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 吃人家的嘴軟，拿人家的手短

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.