牵一发而动全身 in English qian1 yi1 fa4 er2 dong4 quan2 shen1 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) pull one hair and the whole body moves
  • metaphorically a slight change will affect everything else
  • the butterfly effect

Simplified Characters

牵 一 发 而 动 全 身

Traditional Characters

牽 一 髮 而 動 全 身

Pinyin

qian1 yi1 fa4 er2 dong4 quan2 shen1

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

牵qian1to lead along 一yi1one 发fa1to send out 而er2and 动dong4(of sth) to move 全quan2surname Quan 身shen1body