En faire tout un fromage
Meaning: To make a big deal out of nothing.
Language: French
Literally: To make a whole cheese out of it
Category: Food & Drink
Origin: 20th century, and the joke is in the transformation rather than the cheese itself: milk is about as plain and unremarkable a starting point as food gets, yet it can be worked, through real skill and real time, into something as elaborate as a fine cheese. Making a big fromage out of something is therefore building an production out of raw material that did not call for one. Fromage itself has a longer trail behind it — Greek phormos gave Latin forma (a mold, a shape), which produced fourmage, then fromaige, settling into its modern spelling only in the 15th century.
More idioms — Food & Drink
- Mettre son grain de sel — To give an unsolicited opinion.
- Les carottes sont cuites — It's too late, nothing can be done.
- Tomaten auf den Augen haben — To be oblivious to what's right in front of you.
- Um den heißen Brei herumreden — To beat around the bush.
- Seinen Senf dazugeben — To give an unsolicited opinion.
- Klar wie Kloßbrühe — Completely obvious.
More French idioms
- Couper les cheveux en quatre — To over-analyze or split hairs.
- Se regarder le nombril — To be self-centered or narcissistic.
- Avoir le cul entre deux chaises — To be indecisive, caught between two options.
- 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 proverbs
- Birds of a feather flock together — People with similar interests or characteristics tend to associate with each other.
- When the going gets tough, the tough get going — Strong people don't give up when faced with challenges.
- Fall seven times, get up eight — Perseverance is the key to mastery and resilience.