小意思

xiǎoyìsi

phrase #12,049

Meanings

这是小意思，不用客气。

Zhè shì xiǎoyìsi, bùyòng kèqi.

It's just a small token, no need to be polite.

这点事对他来说是小意思。

Zhè diǎn shì duì tā láishuō shì xiǎoyìsi.

This kind of thing is a piece of cake for him.

usage

Has two common uses: (1) downplaying a gift — 'just a little something'; (2) saying something is easy — 'no big deal / piece of cake'.

culture

When giving a gift in China, it's customary to say 小意思 to be modest about it, even if the gift is actually quite valuable.

小 xiǎo

意 yì

思 sī