細漢偷攑針，大漢偷攑杉
Chinese
| young; short | to steal; to pilfer | needle; pin; injection | to steal; to pilfer | (pine); fir | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (細漢偷攑針，大漢偷攑杉) | 細漢 | 偷 | 攑 | 針 | ， | 大漢 | 偷 | 攑 | 杉 | |
| simp. (细汉偷𫽥針，大汉偷𫽥杉) | 细汉 | 偷 | 𫽥 | 針 | ， | 大汉 | 偷 | 𫽥 | 杉 | |
| Literally: “stealthily getting needles when one is a child, stealthily getting a China fir tree when one is grown up”. | ||||||||||
Pronunciation
- Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): sòe-hàn thau kia̍h chiam, tōa-hàn thau kia̍h sam / sè-hàn thau gia̍h chiam, tōa-hàn thau gia̍h sam / sòe-hàn thau ka̍h cham, tōa-hàn thau ka̍h sam
- Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sòe-hàn thau kia̍h chiam, tōa-hàn thau kia̍h sam
- Tâi-lô: suè-hàn thau kia̍h tsiam, tuā-hàn thau kia̍h sam
- Sinological IPA (Xiamen): /sue²¹⁻⁵³ han²¹ tʰau⁴⁴⁻²² kia(ʔ)⁴⁻²¹ t͡siam⁴⁴ tua²²⁻²¹ han²¹ tʰau⁴⁴⁻²² kia(ʔ)⁴⁻²¹ sam⁴⁴/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sè-hàn thau gia̍h chiam, tōa-hàn thau gia̍h sam
- Tâi-lô: sè-hàn thau gia̍h tsiam, tuā-hàn thau gia̍h sam
- Sinological IPA (Zhangzhou): /se²¹⁻⁵³ han²¹ tʰau⁴⁴⁻²² ɡia(ʔ)¹²¹⁻²¹ t͡siam⁴⁴ tua²²⁻²¹ han²¹ tʰau⁴⁴⁻²² ɡia(ʔ)¹²¹⁻²¹ sam⁴⁴/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sòe-hàn thau ka̍h cham, tōa-hàn thau ka̍h sam
- Tâi-lô: suè-hàn thau ka̍h tsam, tuā-hàn thau ka̍h sam
- Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /sue⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ han⁴¹ tʰau³³ ka(ʔ)²⁴⁻² t͡sam³³ tua⁴¹⁻²² han⁴¹ tʰau³³ ka(ʔ)²⁴⁻² sam³³/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
Proverb
細漢偷攑針，大漢偷攑杉
- (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 | |