九牛一毛
jiǔ niú yī máo
a drop in the ocean
Character by character
九jiǔ
nine
nine
牛niú
oxen
oxen
一yī
one
one
毛máo
hair
hair
Example
这点钱对他来说只是九牛一毛。
To him, that money is a drop in the ocean.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
From Sima Qian’s letter to Ren An: his death would matter as little as one hair lost from nine oxen.
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