一马勺坏一锅
yī​mǎ​sháo​huài​yī​guō

one bad apple spoils the barrel

  • created sense approved 一马勺坏一锅/一馬勺壞一鍋 · yī​mǎ​sháo​huài​yī​guō · one bad apple spoils the barrel — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    一马勺坏一锅 / 一馬勺壞一鍋

    yī​mǎ​sháo​huài​yī​guō

    one bad apple spoils the barrel

    one ladle of something bad spoils the whole pot; used to say that one small negative element can ruin an entire situation

    一 (literal) → 一 · yī · one 马勺 (literal) → 马勺/馬勺 · mǎ​sháo · ladle 坏 (literal) → 坏/壞 · huài · to go bad 一 (literal) → 一 · yī · one 锅 (literal) → 锅/鍋 · guō · pot

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense