Couper les cheveux en quatre
Meaning: To over-analyze or split hairs.
Language: French
Literally: To cut hair in four
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: The 17th century said fendre un cheveu en quatre — to split a hair in four — and an even older form only bothered to split it in two; Furetière's 1690 dictionary has that simpler version. By the end of the 18th century the ambition had grown to four, and the Académie française's 1798 dictionary already lists fendre un cheveu en quatre. Couper replaces fendre from the middle of the 19th century onward. The image needs no gloss: cutting a single hair along its width into four requires a precision no reasonable task calls for, which is exactly the accusation leveled at anyone who insists on it.
Equivalents in other languages
- Portuguese: Procurar pelo em ovo — literally: To look for hair on an egg
- Turkish: Armudun sapı var, üzümün çöpü var — literally: The pear has a stalk, the grape has a seed
More idioms — Body & Senses
- Se regarder le nombril — To be self-centered or narcissistic.
- Tomaten auf den Augen haben — To be oblivious to what's right in front of you.
- Die Daumen drücken — To wish someone good luck (like crossing fingers).
- 口が滑る (kuchi ga suberu) — To accidentally let something slip.
- No tener pelos en la lengua — To speak very bluntly and honestly.
- Tomar el pelo — To pull someone's leg; to tease.
More French idioms
- Avoir le cul entre deux chaises — To be indecisive, caught between two options.
- Mettre son grain de sel — To give an unsolicited opinion.
- Les carottes sont cuites — It's too late, nothing can be done.
- Casser les pieds à quelqu'un — To annoy or bore someone greatly.
- Avoir le beurre et l'argent du beurre — To want to have it both ways.
- Noyer le poisson — To confuse the issue deliberately; to dodge a question.
From our compliments & insults
- Tu es un as — You're brilliant at what you do — the very best.
- Tu as de la répartie — You're brilliantly quick-witted — always ready with the perfect comeback.
- T'as pas inventé le fil à couper le beurre — You're not exactly a genius — the wire to cut butter is about the most obvious tool imagi…