差之毫厘,谬以千里 chā zhī háo lí , miù yǐ qiān lǐ

DEFINITIONS

  1. the slightest difference leads to a huge error (idiom)
  2. a miss is as good as a mile

CHARACTERS

差 chā to differ; different, wrong; nearly, almost; an officer
之 zhī marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
毫 háo fine hair; measure of length
厘 lí manage, control; thousandth part of tael
谬 miù error, exaggeration; erroneous
以 yǐ by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
千 qiān thousand; many, numerous; very; (Cant.) a cheater, swindler
里 lǐ unit of distance; village; lane