差之毫厘,谬以千里

chā zhī háo lí , miù yǐ qiān lǐ

the slightest difference leads to a huge error (idiom)

a miss is as good as a mile

chā

difference; discrepancy

zhī

(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5])

háo

hair

one hundredth

,

miù

(bound form) false; erroneous; absurd

abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4]

qiān

used in 鞦韆|秋千[qiu1 qian1]

li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m