many a mickle makes a muckle

English

WOTD – 2 March 2022

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmɛni‿ə ˈmɪk(ə)l meɪks‿ə ˈmʌk(ə)l/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmɛni‿ə ˈmɪkəl meɪks‿ə ˈmʌkəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌkəl
• Hyphenation: ma‧ny a mick‧le makes a muck‧le

Usage notes

The original form of the proverb was many a little (or pickle) makes a mickle, mickle meaning “a great amount”. However, it became corrupted to many a mickle makes a muckle, leading to mickle being thought to mean “a small quantity” and muckle to mean “a large quantity”, even though muckle is a variant of mickle and both mean “a large quantity”. The vowel change suggests the influence of ablaut reduplication.

Proverb

many a mickle makes a muckle

1. (chiefly Northern England, Scotland) A lot of small amounts, put together, become a large amount. [from 1793]

   Synonyms: every little helps, little and often fills the purse, many a little makes a mickle, many a pickle makes a mickle, take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves

   • 1793 April 21, George Washington, Worthington Chauncey Ford, compiler and editor, “Letters to Anthony Whiting, 1793”, in The Writings of George Washington, volumes XII (1790–1794), New York, N.Y., London: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, the Knickerbocker Press, published 1891, →OCLC, page 382:

     People are often ruined before they are aware of the danger, by buying everything they think they want, without adverting to a Scotch adage—than which nothing in nature is more true—"that many mickles make a muckle."

     According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this is the first occurrence of the term in print.

Translations

lot of small amounts, put together, become a large amount

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 聚沙成塔 (zh) (jùshāchéngtǎ, literally “gathering sand grains completes a tower”)

• Danish: mange bække små gør en stor å
• Dutch: vele kleintjes maken een grote
• French: les petits ruisseaux font les grandes rivières (fr) (literally “small streams make big rivers”), petit à petit, l’oiseau fait son nid (fr)
• German: Kleinvieh macht auch Mist (de), steter Tropfen höhlt den Stein (de)
• Hungarian: sok kicsi sokra megy (hu)
• Irish: bailíonn brobh beart
• Jamaican Creole: every mikkle mek a mukkle
• Japanese: 塵も積もれば山となる (ja) (ちりもつもればやまとなる, chiri-mo tsumoreba yama-to naru)
• Korean: 티끌 모아 태산 (ko) (tikkeul moa taesan), 백지장도 맞들면 낫다 (ko) (baekjijangdo matdeulmyeon natda), 백지장도 맞들면 낫다 (ko) (baekjijangdo matdeulmyeon natda)
• Malay: sedikit-sedikit, lama-lama jadi bukit (literally “bit by bit, in the end it becomes a hill”), sehari selembar benang, lama-lama menjadi kain (literally “every day a thread, soon a cloth”)
• Polish: ziarnko do ziarnka, a zbierze się miarka (pl) (literally “grain to grain and the measuring cup will collect”)
• Portuguese: grão a grão enche a galinha o papo
• Russian: копе́йка рубль бережёт (kopéjka rublʹ berežót, literally “a kopeyka saves a ruble”), с миру по нитке – голому руба́ха (s miru po nitke – golomu rubáxa) (somewhat)
• Slovene: zrno na zrno pogača kamen na kamen palača
• Spanish: muchos pocos hacen un mucho
• Swedish: många bäckar små gör en stor å (sv)
• Turkish: damlaya damlaya göl olur.
• Vietnamese: góp gió thành bão (vi), tích tiểu thành đại

See also

• a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Further reading

• Alan D[urward] Mickle (1953) Many a Mickle, Melbourne, Vic.: F[rank] W[alter] Cheshire, →OCLC, page 12.