огород городить (ogorod gorodit')

Meaning: To make a fuss or create complicated problems over something trivial; to engage in useless busy-work or to talk nonsense.

Language: Russian

Literally: to build a vegetable garden

Category: Daily Life

Origin: The phrase pictures someone elaborately constructing a kitchen garden when they should be doing something more important or worthwhile.

More idioms — Daily Life

сыграть в ящик (sygrat' v yashchik) — To die.
нашего полку прибыло (nashego polku pribylo) — Another person has joined a group or shared predicament; a welcome to the club.
на славу (na slavu) — Excellently; very well; in a first-rate manner.
вводить в заблуждение (vvodit' v zabluzhdenie) — To deceive or mislead someone deliberately.
сарафанное радио (sarafannoe radio) — The informal spread of gossip or news from person to person, especially by word of mouth.
нечего греха таить (nechego grekha tait') — Truth be told; one might as well admit something true and damning rather than conceal it.

на честном слове и на одном крыле (na chestnom slove i na odnom kryle) — Succeeding or surviving by the barest margin, through luck or desperation rather than sol…
развесистая клюква (razvestistaya klyukva) — Ignorant stereotypes and tall tales about Russia, especially those peddled by foreigners.
ври больше (vri bolshe) — An expression of dismissive disbelief; an ironical way of saying someone's story is uncon…
пускаться во все тяжкие (puskat'sya vo vse tyazhkiye) — To abandon restraint and indulge recklessly in vices or wrongdoing without scruple.
хоть ложись и умирай (hot' lozhis' i umiray) — There is no escape or solution; one must accept an impossible or desperate situation.
на коленке (na kolenke) — Done hastily and without proper tools or technique; improvised or makeshift.

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