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): ㄧㄣ ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄕ ㄉㄚˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jan¹ siu² sat¹ daai⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yīnxiǎoshīdà
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄣ ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄕ ㄉㄚˋ
    • 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

1. 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) 

1. 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)