鶏を割くになんぞ牛刀を用いん

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 spelling
鷄を割くになんぞ牛刀を用いん (kyūjitai)

Etymology

From the Analects of Confucius, 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(にわとり)を割(さ)くになんぞ牛(ぎゅう)刀(とう)を用(もち)いん • (niwatori o saku ni nanzo gyūtō o mochiin) 

1. something big is not necessary to handle small problems

   Synonyms: 牛刀をもって鶏を割く (gyūtō o motte niwatori o saku), 鶏を割くにいずくんぞ牛刀を用いん (niwatori o saku ni izukunzo gyūtō o mochiin)