杯水车薪(bēi shuǐ chē xīn ) Drop in the Bucket

The character “杯 (bēi)” means cup,“水 (shuǐ)” means water,“车( chē)”means car,“薪( xīn )”means salary.The original meaning of theproverb is that trying to put out a burning cartload of faggots with a cup of water.Now it means small strength like drop in the bucket.

For example:

Zhèmediǎnqián duìyú tā lái shuō jiǎnzhí jiùshì bēishuǐchēxīn.
这么点钱对于他来说简直就是杯水车薪。
The little money is only drop in the bucket for him.

Zhèxiē jiùzāiwùzī duì yú zāimín lái shuō ， jiǎnzhí shì bēishuchēxīn,wújìyúshì .
这些救灾物资对于灾民来说，简直是杯水车薪，无济于事.
For the flood victims,these disaster relief supplies is at present little more than a drop in the bucket.