差之毫厘，失之千里
chā​zhī​háo​lí​shī​zhī​qiān​lǐ

a miss is as good as a mile

  • created sense approved 差之毫厘，失之千里/差之毫釐，失之千里 · chā​zhī​háo​lí​shī​zhī​qiān​lǐ · a miss is as good as a mile — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    差之毫厘，失之千里 / 差之毫釐，失之千里

    chā​zhī​háo​lí​shī​zhī​qiān​lǐ

    a miss is as good as a mile

    the slightest initial error or difference will lead to a massive discrepancy in the final result

    差 (literal) → 差 · chā · difference 之 (literal) → 之 · zhī · [nominalizer] 毫厘 (literal) → 毫厘/毫釐 · háo​lí · an iota ， (non_chinese) 失 (literal) → 失 · shī · to lose 之 (literal) → 之 · zhī · [nominalizer] 千里 (literal) → 千里 · qiān​lǐ · a thousand li

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

    created sense