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 spelling
鷄を割くにいずくんぞ牛刀を用いん (kyūjitai)

Etymology

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

鶏(にわとり)を割(さ)くにいずくんぞ牛(ぎゅう)刀(とう)を用(もち)いん • (niwatori o saku ni izukunzo gyūtō o mochiin)

something big is not necessary to handle small problems

Synonyms

牛刀(ぎゅうとう)をもって鶏(にわとり)を割(さ)く (gyūtō o motte niwatori o saku)
鶏(にわとり)を割(さ)くになんぞ牛刀(ぎゅうとう)を用(もち)いん (niwatori o saku ni nanzo gyūtō o mochiin)

References

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

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