小時偷針，大時偷金

Chinese

	childhood	to steal; to pilfer	needle; pin		big; old	time; when	to steal; to pilfer	gold
trad. (小時偷針，大時偷金)	小時	偷	針	，	大	時	偷	金
simp. (小时偷针，大时偷金)	小时	偷	针	，	大	时	偷	金
Literally: “one who steals a needle during childhood will steal gold as an adult”.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): xiǎo shí tōu zhēn, dà shí tōu jīn

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄕˊ ㄊㄡㄓㄣ , ㄉㄚˋ ㄕˊ ㄊㄡㄐㄧㄣ
Cantonese (Jyutping): siu² si⁴ tau¹ zam¹, daai⁶ si⁴ tau¹ gam¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xiǎo shí tōu zhēn, dà shí tōu jīn
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄕˊ ㄊㄡㄓㄣ , ㄉㄚˋ ㄕˊ ㄊㄡㄐㄧㄣ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: siǎo shíh tou jhen, dà shíh tou jin
  - Wade–Giles: hsiao³ shih² tʻou¹ chên¹, ta⁴ shih² tʻou¹ chin¹
  - Yale: syǎu shŕ tōu jēn-, dà shŕ tōu jīn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheau shyr tou jen, dah shyr tou jin
  - Palladius: сяо ши тоу чжэнь, да ши тоу цзинь (sjao ši tou čžɛnʹ, da ši tou czinʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂʐ̩³⁵ tʰoʊ̯⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂən⁵⁵ tä⁵¹ ʂʐ̩³⁵ tʰoʊ̯⁵⁵ t͡ɕin⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: siu² si⁴ tau¹ zam¹, daai⁶ si⁴ tau¹ gam¹
  - Yale: síu sìh tāu jām, daaih sìh tāu gām
  - Cantonese Pinyin: siu² si⁴ tau¹ dzam¹, daai⁶ si⁴ tau¹ gam¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: xiu² xi⁴ teo¹ zem¹, dai⁶ xi⁴ teo¹ gem¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːu̯³⁵ siː²¹ tʰɐu̯⁵⁵ t͡sɐm⁵⁵ taːi̯²² siː²¹ tʰɐu̯⁵⁵ kɐm⁵⁵/

Proverb

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.

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