shī zhī háo lí , chà zhī qiān lǐ

Traditional: 失之毫釐，差之千里

失之毫厘，差之千里 (shī zhī háo lí , chà zhī qiān lǐ) is a Chinese word meaning “a tiny lapse can lead to a huge mistake (idiom); a minor discrepancy leading to enormous losses”.

Meanings

  1. 1a tiny lapse can lead to a huge mistake (idiom); a minor discrepancy leading to enormous losses

Characters in 失之毫厘，差之千里

失shī · to lose之zhī · (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5])毫háo · hair厘lí · one hundredth差chā · difference; discrepancy之zhī · (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5])千qiān · thousand里lǐ · lining

Related words

里lining里li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m里surname Li里variant of 裡|里[li3]这里here这里variant of 這裡|这里[zhe4 li3]那里there; that place那里there; that place之(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5])之前before哪里where?哪里where?

Study Chinese with flashcards →