Definition
鸿毛 literally means 'goose feather'. It appears in the famous idiom 轻如鸿毛 ('as light as a goose feather'), originating from Sima Qian's 'Letter to Ren An', where he contrasts a feather-light death with a Mount Tai–heavy one. The word is now used both literally and figuratively to refer to something extremely trivial or insignificant.
n.
goose feather(fig.) something extremely light or insignificant
Examples
- 鸿毛。Tā rènwéi míngyù qīng rú hóng máo.He thinks reputation is as light as a goose feather.
- 鸿毛，。Niǎo de hóng máo hěn qīng, dàn duì wǒ lái shuō hěn zhòngyào.A bird's feather is very light, but it's important to me.
- ，鸿毛。Duìyú tā lái shuō, zhè diǎn qián qīng rú hóng máo.For him, this small amount of money is as light as a goose feather.
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