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		tall; eldest; oldest	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

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• 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/

Proverb

細漢偷挽匏，大漢偷牽牛

1. (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 edit
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