矬子里拔将军

cuó zi lǐ bá jiāng jūn

lit. to choose a general among the dwarves (idiom)

fig. to pick the best out of a bad group

矬

cuó

short

子

zi

noun suffix, as in 椅子[yi3 zi5] "chair"

里

lǐ

li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m

拔

bá

to pull up

将

jiāng

will

军

jūn

(bound form) army