一手交钱,一手交货
yī shǒu jiāo qián , yī shǒu jiāo huò
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1 lit. one hand exchanges the cash, the other the goods (idiom)
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2 fig. to pay for what you want in cash
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3 simple and direct transaction
亡羊补牢
wáng yáng bǔ láo
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1 lit. to mend the pen after sheep are lost (idiom)
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2 fig. to act belatedly
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3 better late than never
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4 to lock the stable door after the horse has bolted
取长补短
qǔ cháng bǔ duǎn
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1 lit. use others' strengths to make up for one's weak points (idiom from Mencius)
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2 to use this in place of that
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3 what you lose on the swings, you win on the roundabouts
将勤补绌
jiāng qín bǔ chù
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1 to compensate for lack of ability through hard work (idiom)
小洞不堵,大洞难补
xiǎo dòng bù dǔ , dà dòng nán bǔ
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1 If you don't plug the small hole, the big hole will be hard to repair (idiom); A stitch in time saves nine.
小洞不补大洞吃苦
xiǎo dòng bù bǔ dà dòng chī kǔ
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1 A small hole not plugged will make you suffer a big hole (idiom); a stitch in time saves nine
截长补短
jié cháng bǔ duǎn
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1 take from the long to supplement the short (idiom)
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2 to offset each other's deficiencies
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3 to complement each other
拆东墙补西墙
chāi dōng qiáng bǔ xī qiáng
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1 lit. pull down the east wall to repair the west wall (idiom); fig. temporary expedient
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2 Rob Peter to pay Paul
拆东补西
chāi dōng bǔ xī
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1 lit. pull down the east wall to repair the west (idiom); fig. temporary expedient
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2 Rob Peter to pay Paul
拾遗补缺
shí yí bǔ quē
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1 to remedy omissions and correct errors (idiom)
挖肉补疮
wā ròu bǔ chuāng
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1 to cut one's flesh to cover a sore (idiom); faced with a current crisis, to make it worse by a temporary expedient
杀人越货
shā rén yuè huò
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1 to kill sb for his property (idiom); to murder for money
船到江心,补漏迟
chuán dào jiāng xīn , bǔ lòu chí
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1 It's too late to plug the leak once ship is in the middle of the river. (idiom)
补偏救弊
bǔ piān jiù bì
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1 to remedy defects and correct errors (idiom); to rectify past mistakes
货比三家
huò bǐ sān jiā
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1 to comparison shop (idiom)
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2 comparison shopping
货比三家不吃亏
huò bǐ sān jiā bù chī kuī
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1 shop around first and you won't get ripped off (idiom)