pick holes in
Meaning: To find small faults in something, often unfairly.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “Every time I share a plan, my brother-in-law picks holes in it.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: The image is of tearing at cloth to find weak spots. The phrase, earlier "pick a hole in someone's coat," is found from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Equivalents in other languages
- Portuguese: botar defeito — literally: to place a defect
- Dutch: gaten schieten in — literally: to shoot holes in
- French: Chercher la petite bête — literally: To look for the little beast
More idioms — Daily Life
- take someone down a peg — To make an arrogant person more humble.
- you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy — People keep the habits and character of where they grew up.
- go to Canossa — To humble oneself and submit to an opponent.
- a captain of industry — A powerful business leader who runs a major company.
- the bigger they are, the harder they fall — The more powerful someone is, the worse their downfall.
- a day late and a dollar short — Too late and not enough to be useful.
More English idioms
- go under the knife — To have a surgical operation.
- a whipping boy — Someone who is blamed or punished for the faults of others.
- the life of the party — A lively, fun person who makes a gathering enjoyable.
- kick against the pricks — To resist authority or fate in a way that only hurts oneself.
- hell for leather — As fast as possible.
- buy a pig in a poke — To buy something without examining it first.