IdiomAnimals
French
FrenchLa montagne accouche d'une souris
Meaning: A vast effort or grand announcement produces something trivial.
Literally: The mountain gives birth to a mouse
Example: “Six mois de débats pour changer une virgule : la montagne a accouché d'une souris.” — Six months of debate to change a comma: much ado about nothing.
English equivalent: Much ado about nothing
Equivalents in other languages
Arabic: تمخض الجبل فولد فأرا (tamakhaḍa al-jabalu fa-walada fa'ran) Literally: The mountain went into labor and gave birth to a mouse
English: much ado about nothing
Origin: From Horace's Ars Poetica — parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus — by way of Aesop and La Fontaine. It is aimed at the announcement more than the result.
More French idioms
- Charger la mule To pile on far too much; to overcharge someone.
- Ne pas valoir un pet de lapin To be entirely worthless.
- C'est la mer à boire It is an impossible or endless task — most often used in the negative.
- Faire son miel de quelque chose To turn something to one's own advantage.
- La substantifique moelle The essential substance of something, reached only by real effort.
- Refiler la patate chaude To hand an awkward problem to someone else.
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