鶏を割くにいずくんぞ牛刀を用いん

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 forms

• 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 (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 (hiragana にわとりをさくにいずくんぞぎゅうとうをもちいん, rōmaji niwatori o saku ni izukunzo 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), 鶏を割くになんぞ牛刀を用いん (niwatori o saku ni nanzo gyūtō o mochiin)

References

1. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN