失之毫厘，差之千里

Traditional form:

失之毫釐，差之千里

Pinyin (reading):

shīzhīháolí,chàzhīqiānlǐ

Definitions:

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

Characters:

• 失 - to lose; to make a mistake, to neglect
• 之 - marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; to go to
• 毫 - fine hair; measure of length; one-thousandth
• 厘 - one thousandth
• 差 - difference, gap; almost, nearly; in error; an officer
• 之 - marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; to go to
• 千 - thousand; many, numerous; very
• 里 - unit of distance equal to 0.5km; village; lane

Traditional characters:

• 失 - to lose; to make a mistake, to neglect
• 之 - marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; to go to
• 毫 - fine hair; measure of length; one-thousandth
• 釐 - one thousandth
• 差 - difference, gap; almost, nearly; in error; an officer
• 之 - marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; to go to
• 千 - thousand; many, numerous; very
• 里 - unit of distance equal to 0.5km; village; lane