鶏口となるも牛後となるなかれ
Japanese
[edit]| Kanji in this term | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 鶏 | 口 | 牛 | 後 |
| けい Grade: S |
こう Grade: 1 |
ぎゅう Grade: 2 |
ご Grade: 2 |
| Alternative spellings |
|---|
| 鷄口となるも牛後となるなかれ (kyūjitai) 鶏口となるも牛後となる勿れ |
Etymology
[edit]Calque of Literary Chinese 寧為雞口，無為牛後／宁为鸡口，无为牛后 (literally “Better be the head of a chicken than the tail of an ox”). Originally read as 寧ろ鶏口となるも牛後となる勿れ. The initial 寧ろ is redundant in Japanese and therefore omitted.
Proverb
[edit]鶏口となるも牛後となるなかれ • (keikō to naru mo gyūgo to naru nakare)
- It is better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond.
See also
[edit]- 鶏口牛後 (keikōgyūgo)
Categories:
- Japanese terms spelled with 鶏 read as けい
- Japanese terms spelled with 口 read as こう
- Japanese terms spelled with 牛 read as ぎゅう
- Japanese terms spelled with 後 read as ご
- Japanese terms calqued from Literary Chinese
- Japanese terms derived from Literary Chinese
- Japanese lemmas
- Japanese proverbs
- Japanese terms with multiple readings
- Japanese terms spelled with secondary school kanji
- Japanese terms spelled with first grade kanji
- Japanese terms spelled with second grade kanji
- Japanese terms with 4 kanji