小洞不堵，大洞吃苦 in English xiao3 dong4 bu4 du3 , da4 dong4 chi1 ku3 Meaning

Meanings

  • a small hole not plugged will give you grief when it gets bigger (idiomatic expression)
  • a stitch in time saves nine

Simplified Characters

小 洞 不 堵 ， 大 洞 吃 苦

Traditional Characters

小 洞 不 堵 ， 大 洞 吃 苦

Pinyin

xiao3 dong4 bu4 du3 , da4 dong4 chi1 ku3

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

小xiao3small 洞dong4cave 不bu4(negative prefix) 堵du3to block up (a road, pipe etc) ， 大da4big 洞dong4cave 吃chi1to eat 苦ku3bitter