Japanese

はいすいしゃしん
Meaning: aid or effort so small that it is useless
Part of Speech: Noun, Four-character idiom

Listen to pronunciation

Example

追加の予算は出たが、被害の規模に比べれば杯水車薪だ。
An additional budget was approved, but compared with the scale of the damage, it was far too little to help.

Usage Notes

A formal idiom for help that is too small for a large problem, like trying to put out a huge fire with a cup of water.

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