蚁穴坏堤
蚁穴坏堤 (yǐ xué huài dī) literally means “ant holes break dike” and expresses “small problems cause disaster”. This idiom is used when describing situations involving life philosophy.
Also searched as: yi xue huai di, yi xue huai di,蚁穴坏堤 meaning, 蚁穴坏堤 in english
Small problems cause disaster
Pronunciation: yǐ xué huài dī Literal meaning: Ant holes break dike
Origin & Usage
The Han Feizi observes that a dyke a thousand zhang long is breached through the burrow of ants and crickets. An ant's (蚁) hole (穴) ruins (坏) the dyke (堤) not by being large but by being ignored while it is small, and the passage is advice to rulers about attending to minor faults early. The saying is more often met in its other form, 千里之堤，溃于蚁穴 — a dyke of a thousand li collapses through an ant hole — and modern Chinese uses either for a small neglected flaw that brings down something substantial.
Examples
English: "A minor oversight in the code led to a critical system failure"
Chinese: 代码中的一个小疏忽导致了系统的重大故障
Related Chinese Idioms
Similar idioms about life philosophy
囫囵吞枣
hú lún tūn zǎo
Accept without proper understanding
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笑里藏刀
xiào lǐ cáng dāo
Hide malice behind smile
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枕流漱石
zhěn liú shù shí
Live as a recluse in the wild
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插翅难飞
chā chì nán fēi
Utterly impossible to escape
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追本溯源
zhuī běn sù yuán
Trace back to source
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悬梁刺股
xuán liáng cì gǔ
Study extremely hard
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纸上谈兵
zhǐ shàng tán bīng
All theory no practice
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浩浩荡荡
hào hào dàng dàng
Moving in overwhelming numbers
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does 蚁穴坏堤 mean in English?
蚁穴坏堤 (yǐ xué huài dī) literally translates to “Ant holes break dike” and is used to express “Small problems cause disaster”. This Chinese idiom belongs to the Life Philosophy category.
When is 蚁穴坏堤 used?
Situation: A minor oversight in the code led to a critical system failure
What is the pinyin for 蚁穴坏堤?
The pinyin pronunciation for 蚁穴坏堤 is “yǐ xué huài dī”.