不在话下 (bù zài huà xià) — (idiom) to be a piece of cake; to be a trivial…

Definition

An idiom meaning something is so easy or obvious it's 'not even worth mentioning' — stronger than 小菜一碟, which only stresses ease.

idiom

to be a piece of caketo be a trivial matterto go without sayingto be a given

不在话下。
Zhè duì tā lái shuō bù zài huà xià.
This is a piece of cake for her.
不在话下。
Zhè zhǒng xiǎo shì gēn běn bù zài huà xià.
This kind of small matter is nothing at all.
，不在话下。
Jì rán nǐ dā ying le, nà bù zài huà xià le.
Since you agreed, that goes without saying.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

The early form of 在 used 才 for its sound; a second sound part 士 was added later, and that 士 became the 土 seen in 在.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠯑

𠯑𠯑話huà

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Appears in