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)
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