因小失大

Chinese

		cause; reason; because	small; tiny; few small; tiny; few; young	to lose; to miss; to fail	big; great; huge big; great; huge; large; major; wide; deep; oldest; eldest; doctor
simp. and trad. (因小失大)		因	小	失	大
alternative forms		為小失大／为小失大

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): yīnxiǎoshīdà

(Zhuyin): ㄧㄣㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄕㄉㄚˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): jan¹ siu² sat¹ daai⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: yīnxiǎoshīdà
  - Zhuyin: ㄧㄣㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄕㄉㄚˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: yinsiǎoshihdà
  - Wade–Giles: yin¹-hsiao³-shih¹-ta⁴
  - Yale: yīn-syǎu-shr̄-dà
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: insheaushydah
  - Palladius: иньсяошида (inʹsjaošida)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /in⁵⁵ ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ tä⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: jan¹ siu² sat¹ daai⁶
  - Yale: yān síu sāt daaih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jan¹ siu² sat⁷ daai⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: yen¹ xiu² sed¹ dai⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐn⁵⁵ siːu̯³⁵ sɐt̚⁵ taːi̯²²/

Idiom

因小失大

to try to save a little only to lose a lot; to spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar; to be penny wise and pound foolish

Synonyms

殺雞取卵／杀鸡取卵 (shājīqǔluǎn)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (因小失大):

→ Japanese: 因(いん)小(しょう)失(しつ)大(だい) (inshōshitsudai)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
因	小	失	大
いん Grade: 5	しょう Grade: 1	しつ Grade: 4	だい Grade: 1
on'yomi

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from Chinese 因小失大 (yīnxiǎoshīdà).

Idiom

因(いん)小(しょう)失(しつ)大(だい) • (inshōshitsudai)

to spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar

Synonyms

貪(たん)小(しょう)失(しつ)大(だい) (tanshōshitsudai)

Antonyms

枉(おう)尺(せき)直(ちょく)尋(じん) (ōsekichokujin)