小
xiǎo
How "small" in Chinese also means "no big deal"
The picture An outline pulled inward until it takes up only a little room. 小 pulls the outline inward; 大 pushes it outward.
Where the picture shows up in 小
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room walls pull in
这个房间太小了,放不下床。
zhè ge fáng jiān tài xiǎo le, fàng bu xià chuáng.
This room is too small — the bed won't fit.
Four walls standing so close there's no room to turn a bed around
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a voice pulls in
电话里声音太小,我听不见。
diàn huà lǐ shēng yīn tài xiǎo, wǒ tīng bu jiàn.
You're too faint on the phone, I can't hear you.
Sound rings from the receiver fading out before they reach the ear
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years stack lower
我弟弟比我小两岁。
wǒ dì di bǐ wǒ xiǎo liǎng suì.
My younger brother is two years younger than me.
Two people side by side, one marked with a shorter line of years
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a problem pulls in
别担心,这是小问题。
bié dān xīn, zhè shì xiǎo wèn tí.
Don't worry, it's a minor thing.
A dot the size of a fingernail held up between two fingers
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pulling your voice in
麻烦您小声一点,孩子在睡觉。
má fan nín xiǎo shēng yī diǎn, hái zi zài shuì jiào.
Could you keep it down? The baby is sleeping.
A hand cupped at the mouth, narrowing the sound on its way out
All of it in one picture
小 is one outline pulled inward. Pull the walls of a room in and the bed won't fit; pull a voice in and it dies before it reaches your ear; pull the line of years in and someone sits below you in age; pull a problem in and it shrinks to nothing worth worrying about; pull your own voice in and you are asking someone to keep it down.