IdiomAnimals
Czech
CzechDělat z komára velblouda
Meaning: To blow something tiny wildly out of proportion.
Literally: To make a camel out of a mosquito
Example: “Je to jen malá skvrna, nedělej z komára velblouda.” — It's just a small stain; don't make a mountain out of a molehill.
English equivalent: To make a mountain out of a molehill
Origin: Making a camel out of a mosquito is blowing up something tiny into something huge. Turkish says the same with a flea (pireyi deve yapmak), and the camel version is shared across Central and Eastern Europe. It is the counterpart of English "make a mountain out of a molehill."
Equivalents in other languages
French: En faire tout un fromage Literally: To make a whole cheese out of it
Russian: Делать из мухи слона (Delat' iz mukhi slona) Literally: To make an elephant out of a fly- French: Faire d'une mouche un éléphant Literally: To make an elephant out of a fly
Arabic: يعمل من الحبة قبة (Ya'mal min al-ḥabba qubba) Literally: To build a dome out of a seed
Romanian: A face din țânțar armăsar Literally: To make a stallion out of a mosquito
Turkish: Pireyi deve yapmak Literally: To make a camel out of a flea
Spanish: ahogarse en poca agua Literally: To drown in little water
English: make a mountain out of a molehill- French: Se noyer dans un verre d'eau Literally: To drown in a glass of water
More Czech idioms
- Spadnout z višně To be naive and clueless about how things really work.
- Mít kliku To be lucky.
- Házet flintu do žita To give up prematurely.
- Mít všech pět pohromadě To be of sound mind.
- Být v rejži To be in trouble.
- Přijít s křížkem po funuse To arrive uselessly too late.
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- Sei un tesoro You're a darling — precious to have around.
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