九牛一毛

Pronunciation: jiǔ niú yī máo Literal meaning: One hair from nine oxen

Origin & Usage

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.

Examples

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

Chinese: 损失那点小投资对他的总财富来说不过是九牛一毛。