猫に鰹節

Japanese

Kanji in this term
ねこ
Grade: S
かつお
Hyōgai
ふし > ぶし
Grade: 4
kun'yomi
Alternative spelling
(kyūjitai)

Etymology

Literally a “cat in skipjack tuna flakes”.

Idiom

(ねこ)(かつお)(ぶし) • (neko ni katsuobushi

  1. setting a wolf to mind the sheep; fox in the henhouse