What do you mean, feet long and inches short?

Idioms and proverbs in China mean that people or things have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Short: insufficient; L: More than enough. To make a metaphor, everyone has his own advantages and disadvantages, each with its own merits. No one is full of advantages and no one is full of disadvantages.

Although the ruler is longer than an inch, it also has some shortcomings; Although the inch is shorter than the ruler, it also has its advantages. This sentence means that everyone has his own strengths and weaknesses. We should be good at learning from others' strengths and make up for our own shortcomings.

source

Qu Yuan's Buju in the Chu Ci of the Warring States Period: "The feet are short, the inches are strong, and the materials are insufficient. If you don't know your wisdom, you can't catch it, and God is unreasonable. "

Vernacular interpretation

Qu Yuan's Buju in Chu Ci of the Warring States Period: "The ruler is short, the inch is long, and everything is short. Wisdom has questions that it can't understand, and divination has questions that can't be answered. The gods sometimes have things that they don't know. "

Extended data:

antonym

Learn from each other's strengths is an idiom of China.

source

"The spring and autumn annals". Ask the inner chapter: "The ancient gentleman can continue his shortcomings with the strength of people and make up for his thinness with the thickness of people."

Vernacular interpretation

"This spring and autumn. Ask "inside": "First of all, you can use the strengths of people to continue his shortcomings, and use the thickness of people to make up for his shortcomings."