細漢偷挽匏，大漢偷牽牛
Chinese
| young; short | to steal; to pilfer | draw; pull; send funeral ode | bottle gourd; Lagenaria vulgaris | to steal; to pilfer | lead along | ox; cow; bull | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (細漢偷挽匏，大漢偷牽牛) | 細漢 | 偷 | 挽 | 匏 | ， | 大漢 | 偷 | 牽 | 牛 | |
| simp. (细汉偷挽匏，大汉偷牵牛) | 细汉 | 偷 | 挽 | 匏 | ， | 大汉 | 偷 | 牵 | 牛 | |
| Literally: “stealthily picking calabashes when one is a child, stealthily leading cows when one is grown up”. | ||||||||||
Pronunciation
- Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): sòe-hàn thau bán pû, tōa-hàn thau khan gû / sè-hàn thau bán pû, tōa-hàn thau khan gû
- Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sòe-hàn thau bán pû, tōa-hàn thau khan gû
- Tâi-lô: suè-hàn thau bán pû, tuā-hàn thau khan gû
- IPA (Xiamen): /sue²¹⁻⁵³ han²¹ tʰau⁴⁴⁻²² ban⁵³⁻⁴⁴ pu²⁴ tua²²⁻²¹ han²¹ tʰau⁴⁴⁻²² kʰan⁴⁴⁻²² ɡu²⁴/
- IPA (Quanzhou): /sue⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ han⁴¹ tʰau³³ ban⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ pu²⁴ tua⁴¹⁻²² han⁴¹ tʰau³³ kʰan³³ ɡu²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sè-hàn thau bán pû, tōa-hàn thau khan gû
- Tâi-lô: sè-hàn thau bán pû, tuā-hàn thau khan gû
- IPA (Zhangzhou): /se²¹⁻⁵³ han²¹ tʰau⁴⁴⁻²² ban⁵³⁻⁴⁴ pu¹³ tua²²⁻²¹ han²¹ tʰau⁴⁴⁻²² kʰan⁴⁴⁻²² ɡu¹³/
- IPA (Kaohsiung): /se²¹⁻⁴¹ han²¹ tʰau⁴⁴⁻³³ ban⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ pu²³ tua³³⁻²¹ han²¹ tʰau⁴⁴⁻³³ kʰan⁴⁴⁻³³ ɡu²³/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou)
Proverb
細漢偷挽匏，大漢偷牽牛
- (Hokkien) One who commits small wrongs at a young age, if left uncorrected, will continue to commit crimes that are more serious.
Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 小時偷針，大時偷金 (“one who commits small wrongs at a young age, if left uncorrected, will continue to commit crimes that are more serious”) [map]
| Variety | Location | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 小時偷針，大時偷金 | |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong | 細時偷針，大時偷金, 小時偷針，大時偷金 |
| Hakka | Meixian | 還細偷針，大欸偷金 |
| Changting | 還細偷針，大哩偷金 | |
| Miaoli (N. Sixian) | 細時偷針，大來偷金 | |
| Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) | 細時偷針，大來偷金 | |
| Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) | 細時偷針，大來偷金 | |
| Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) | 細時偷針，大來偷金 | |
| Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) | 細時偷針，大來偷金 | |
| Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) | 細漢偷針，大漢偷金 | |
| Southern Min | Xiamen | 細漢偷攑針，大漢偷攑杉, 細漢偷挽匏，大漢偷牽牛, 細漢偷割匏，大漢偷牽牛, 序細偷挽匏，序大偷牽牛 |
| Quanzhou | 細漢偷攑針，大漢偷攑杉, 細漢偷挽匏，大漢偷牽牛 | |
| Zhangzhou | 細漢偷攑針，大漢偷攑杉, 細漢偷挽匏，大漢偷牽牛 | |