鶏を割くにいずくんぞ牛刀を用いん
Japanese edit
Kanji in this term | ||||
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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 spelling |
---|
鷄を割くにいずくんぞ牛刀を用いん (kyūjitai) |
Etymology edit
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 edit
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 edit
- 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 edit
- ^ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN