鶏を割くにいずくんぞ牛刀を用いん
Japanese
| Kanji in this term | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鶏 | 割 | 牛 | 刀 | 用 |
| にわとり Grade: S |
さ Grade: 6 |
ぎゅう Grade: 2 |
とう Grade: 2 |
もち Grade: 2 |
| kun'yomi | kan'on | kun'yomi | ||
| Alternative spellings |
|---|
| 鷄を割くにいずくんぞ牛刀を用いん (kyūjitai) 鶏を割くに焉んぞ牛刀を用いん |
Etymology
From the Analects of Confucius,[1][2] a calque of Literary Chinese 割雞焉用牛刀 (gējī yān yòng niúdāo, literally “why use an ox cleaver to kill a chicken?”).
Proverb
鶏を割くにいずくんぞ牛刀を用いん • (niwatori o saku ni izukunzo gyūtō o mochiin)
Synonyms
- 牛刀をもって鶏を割く (gyūtō o motte niwatori o saku)
- 鶏を割くになんぞ牛刀を用いん (niwatori o saku ni nanzo gyūtō o mochiin)
References
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (1995), 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN