九牛一毛

jiǔniú-yīmáo

idiom

Meanings

1 lit. one hair from nine oxen
2 a drop in the ocean; an utterly trivial amount

Characters

Examples

HSK 6

我的贡献和他的相比，只是九牛一毛。

Wǒ de gòngxiàn hé tā de xiāngbǐ, zhǐshì jiǔniú-yīmáo.

My contribution compared to his is just one hair out of nine oxen.

HSK 7-9

对富豪来说，这点钱不过是九牛一毛。

Duì fùháo láishuō, zhè diǎn qián bùguò shì jiǔniú-yīmáo.

To a billionaire, this amount of money is nothing but a drop in the ocean.

Tips

history

From Sima Qian's 《报任少卿书》 (Han dynasty): if he were executed, it would be "like losing one hair from nine oxen" - worth no more than an ant's life. Written after he chose castration over death to finish the 《史记》.

memory

Nine oxen × countless hairs each - losing one is imperceptible. English "drop in the bucket" captures the same ratio.

Stroke Order

九 jiǔ

牛 niú

一 yī

毛 máo