尺有所短,寸有所長

简 尺有所短,寸有所长 · 繁 尺有所短,寸有所長
Mandarin · pinyin chǐ yǒu suǒ duǎn , cùn yǒu suǒ cháng

Meanings

  1. lit. for some things a foot may be too short, and for the other an inch will suffice (proverb)
  2. fig. everyone has their strong and weak points
  3. everything has its advantages and disadvantages
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Characters in this entry

尺
chǐ · Chinese measure approx. 'foot'
有
yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
所
suǒ · place, location; numerary adjunct
短
duǎn · short; brief; deficient, lacking
寸
cùn · inch; small, tiny; Kangxi radical 41
長
zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader; Kangxi radical 168
长
zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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尺有所短,寸有所長 · chi3 you3 suo3 duan3 , cun4 you3 suo3 chang2
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 35,125
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record尺有所短,寸有所長 尺有所短,寸有所长 [chi3 you3 suo3 duan3 , cun4 you3 suo3 chang2] /lit. for some things a foot may be too short, and for the other an inch will suffice (proverb)/fig. everyone has their strong and weak points/everything has its advantages and disadvantages/