一粒老鼠屎壞了一鍋粥

lit. one pellet of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of congee (idiom) / fig. one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch

one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire; whole; all; throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

grain / granule / classifier for small round things (peas, bullets, peanuts, pills, grains etc)

prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity / old (of people) / venerable (person) / experienced / of long standing / always / all the time / of the past / very / outdated / (of meat etc) tough

rat / mouse / CL:隻|只[zhi1]

rat / mouse / CL:隻|只[zhi1]

(bound form) rat; mouse

stool / feces / ear wax / nasal mucus

bad / spoiled / broken / to break down / (suffix) to the utmost

shoot! / gosh! / oh, no! / (suffix) to the utmost

(completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) / (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)

to finish / to achieve / variant of 瞭|了[liao3] / to understand clearly

(of eyes) bright / clear-sighted / to understand clearly

unofficial variant of 瞭[liao4]

pot; pan; wok; cauldron / pot-shaped thing / CL:口[kou3],隻|只[zhi1]

(lit.) a pot of porridge / (fig.) a complete mess

see 葷粥|荤粥[Xun1 yu4]

congee / gruel / porridge / CL:碗[wan3]