📖 Meaning
A trivial or negligible contribution. The phrase uses 'inch' and 'foot' as metaphors for smallness of scale. It is often used in self-deprecating speech to downplay one's own achievements.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the 'Zhanguo Ce' (Strategies of the Warring States), compiled during the Western Han dynasty by Liu Xiang, in the chapter 'Yan Ce I' (Strategies of Yan, Part One). In the text, a speaker warns the King of Yan that waging war on Song would exhaust the people, drain the treasury, and yield no worthwhile merit, while only fattening enemies and burdening the world with disaster. Over time the phrase came to denote any small contribution, frequently invoked in humble or modest contexts.
💡 Example Usage
臣随军多年，未立尺寸之功，何敢受此重赏。
I have followed the army for many years without achieving any notable merit—how dare I accept such a generous reward?
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 尺寸之功
- Pinyin: chǐ cù zhī gōng
- Literal Translation: foot, inch, of, merit
- Category: Quality
- Characters: 4