九牛一毛

النطق: jiǔ niú yī máo المعنى الحرفي: One hair from nine oxen

الأصل والاستخدام

This idiom comes from a letter written by the great Han Dynasty historian Sima Qian (司马迁) to his friend Ren An. After being castrated as punishment for defending a disgraced general, Sima Qian wrote that his death would be as insignificant as losing one hair from nine oxen - utterly negligible in the grand scheme of things. The phrase emphasizes extreme insignificance through vivid proportion. In modern usage, it describes something trivial compared to a larger whole, often used to minimize losses or contributions.

متى تستخدم

الموقف: Losing that small investment was just one hair from nine oxen compared to his total wealth.

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