❶borrow a bit here and a bit there; borrow here and there to pull through(the hard days);
❷cut and contrive; make a medley(/hodgepodge) (of odds and ends) from different sorts of things; patched-up; piece (/knock)together; pinch and scrape to get together; [of writings] scissors-and-paste; scrape together
❍ 因是儿子的终身大事所关，说不得东并西凑，恭恭敬敬封了二十四两贽见礼。(《红楼梦》105) In the interest of his son’s career he had to pinch and scrape to get together twenty-four taels of silver as a handsome entrance gift.
❍ 谁有功夫去读这些～的文章呢？ Who can afford the time to read such scissors-and-paste essays?
东拼西凑dōnɡ pīn xī còu
千方百计地把零星的事物凑合到一块。knock together, cut and contrive, jumble, patched-up, scrape together, piece together, do patch work