German originViel Geschrei und wenig Wolle
Meaning: A lot of fuss with very little to show for it.
Literally: Much bleating and little wool
Example: “Wochenlang wurde die Reform angekündigt, und jetzt das? Viel Geschrei und wenig Wolle.” — Weeks of announcing the reform, and now this? Great cry and little wool.
Equivalents in English, Italian, and Dutch
English: Great cry and little wool.
Italian: Assai romor e poca lana, disse colui che tosava la porca (literally: Great cry and little wool, as the man said who shaved the sow)
Dutch: Veel geschreeuw en weinig wol (literally: Much shouting and little wool)
Origin: The usual explanation is a sheared pig: plenty of squealing, very little wool. English has the same image from about 1475, muche crye and litill woll, said of a man who sheared his hog, and a later English form adds "as the devil said when he sheared the hogs." Brewer traced it to a medieval mystery play in which the devil shears a hog, but that origin is disputed. The Danish playwright Ludvig Holberg named the fussy merchant of his comedy Den Stundesløse Vielgeschrey after the German saying.
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