<p>一地鸡毛 is not an idiom. It is the title of a novel by Liu Zhenyun (1991)</p>
<p>Because the novel deals with the ordinary, mundane lives of ordinary people it was extended, by readers, as a social comment on the triviality of everyday matters of daily life, and later extended to anything messy, like the present state of mainland Chinese league football; much like a football field littered everywhere with chicken feathers. An insult I suppose.</p>
<p>Why chicken feathers?</p>
<p>There is an idiom, “鸡毛蒜皮&quot; (Jī máo suàn pí). It literally translates as “chicken feathers and garlic skin”, to describe anything worthless or unimportant.</p>
<p>For the story behind the idiom -- <a href="https://www.echineselearning.com/blog/learn-how-to-use-a-chinese-idiom-of-triviality" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.echineselearning.com/blog/learn-how-to-use-a-chinese-idiom-of-triviality</a></p>
<p>There is actually an English legal principle -- &quot;de minimis&quot;</p>
<p>A legal term meaning too small to be meaningful or taken into consideration; immaterial. As a matter of policy, the law does not encourage parties to bring legal actions for technical breaches of rules or agreements where the impact of the breach is negligible.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-18T03:04:18.293Z
2021-07-18T03:11:03.773Z
2021-07-18T03:11:03.773Z
Wayne Cheah
<p>一地鸡毛 literally means the feathers of chicken spread everywhere.  It describes a messy circumstance and everything in disorder. In your sentence, it implies that everything is far from ready(still in a mess) whilst 中超重新开赛在即.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-17T10:06:32.987Z
Can you tell me more about it? Why is it 鸡毛 but not 鸭毛 or others? Or the source of this idiom?
NanningYouth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-17T17:48:32.433Z
@NanningYouth I have never heard this phrase before, but between chicken and duck, the former is more active in fighting. Actually, "chicken fight" remains a popular leisure game and a type of gambling in many SE Asian countries.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-17T18:03:38.417Z
There is a Cantonese expression [鸡毛鸭血](https://lmuo.blogspot.com/2014/10/blog-post_79.html). It describes "In a difficult situation, helpless", It came from people mishearing 計無所施
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-17T22:33:04.780Z
@NanningYouth Don't the etymology.  The phrase is often used in stock context.  E. g.  股票炒作过后就是一地鸡毛.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-17T06:03:56.993Z
2021-07-17T06:03:56.993Z
dan
<p>Seems to get used a lot in connection with the Chinese Football Association! Not sure what that tells us!</p>
<p>I find 3 slightly nuanced meanings for:</p>
<p>一地鸡毛</p>
<ol>
<li><p>可作为日常生活琐事、鸡毛蒜皮的小事的代称。<br />
Can act as an alternative expression for the triviality of daily life.</p>
</li>
<li><p>表示平庸、琐屑、卑下，无所作为、纠缠不清。<br />
It indicates something is mediocre, petty, base, without initiative, hopelessly muddled</p>
</li>
<li><p>又引申为糟糕、麻烦、混乱、使人厌烦、不受欢迎。<br />
Also has an extended meaning of &quot;too bad, vexing, confused, make people fed up, something unwelcome.&quot;</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>还有一些经纪公司为争夺候选人而起纠纷，甚至告到足协去了，真是一地鸡毛。<br />
There are some agencies vying for candidacy who started a dispute, who even appealed to the Chinese Football Association, it really is a muddle.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-18T02:13:39.313Z
2021-07-18T02:13:39.313Z
Pedroski
<p>Refers to making a mess of things, a mess all over the place.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-18T04:18:11.900Z
2021-07-18T04:18:11.900Z
Jervis
<p>I often meet the phrase in my reading of news reports, the latest one being 中超重新开赛在即，但仍然一地鸡毛. What does the writer imply?</p>

<phrase>
What does 一地鸡毛 mean?
# What does 一地鸡毛 mean?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-07-17)

I often meet the phrase in my reading of news reports, the latest one being 中超重新开赛在即，但仍然一地鸡毛. What does the writer imply?

**Tags:** phrase


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## 4 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-07-18. Score: 3

一地鸡毛 is not an idiom. It is the title of a novel by Liu Zhenyun (1991)

Because the novel deals with the ordinary, mundane lives of ordinary people it was extended, by readers, as a social comment on the triviality of everyday matters of daily life, and later extended to anything messy, like the present state of mainland Chinese league football; much like a football field littered everywhere with chicken feathers. An insult I suppose.

Why chicken feathers?

There is an idiom, “鸡毛蒜皮" (Jī máo suàn pí). It literally translates as “chicken feathers and garlic skin”, to describe anything worthless or unimportant.

For the story behind the idiom -- <https://www.echineselearning.com/blog/learn-how-to-use-a-chinese-idiom-of-triviality>

There is actually an English legal principle -- "de minimis"

A legal term meaning too small to be meaningful or taken into consideration; immaterial. As a matter of policy, the law does not encourage parties to bring legal actions for technical breaches of rules or agreements where the impact of the breach is negligible.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2021-07-17. Score: 2

一地鸡毛 literally means the feathers of chicken spread everywhere. It describes a messy circumstance and everything in disorder. In your sentence, it implies that everything is far from ready(still in a mess) whilst 中超重新开赛在即.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Can you tell me more about it? Why is it 鸡毛 but not 鸭毛 or others? Or the source of this idiom?  
> **username_3**: @username_0 I have never heard this phrase before, but between chicken and duck, the former is more active in fighting. Actually, "chicken fight" remains a popular leisure game and a type of gambling in many SE Asian countries.  
> **username_4**: There is a Cantonese expression [鸡毛鸭血](https://lmuo.blogspot.com/2014/10/blog-post_79.html). It describes "In a difficult situation, helpless", It came from people mishearing 計無所施  
> **username_2**: @username_0 Don't the etymology.  The phrase is often used in stock context.  E. g.  股票炒作过后就是一地鸡毛.  

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### Answer by username_5 on 2021-07-18. Score: 1

Seems to get used a lot in connection with the Chinese Football Association! Not sure what that tells us!

I find 3 slightly nuanced meanings for:

一地鸡毛

1. 可作为日常生活琐事、鸡毛蒜皮的小事的代称。  
   Can act as an alternative expression for the triviality of daily life.
2. 表示平庸、琐屑、卑下，无所作为、纠缠不清。  
   It indicates something is mediocre, petty, base, without initiative, hopelessly muddled
3. 又引申为糟糕、麻烦、混乱、使人厌烦、不受欢迎。  
   Also has an extended meaning of "too bad, vexing, confused, make people fed up, something unwelcome."

还有一些经纪公司为争夺候选人而起纠纷，甚至告到足协去了，真是一地鸡毛。  
There are some agencies vying for candidacy who started a dispute, who even appealed to the Chinese Football Association, it really is a muddle.


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### Answer by username_6 on 2021-07-18. Score: 0

Refers to making a mess of things, a mess all over the place.


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