# to make a mountain out of a molehill (Van een mug een olifant maken)



## ALOV

Hi, 

I wondered if other languages have a similar expression for : 'hij maakt van een mug een olifant , meaning 'he exagerates', litterally 'he makes an elephant of a mosquito'/'he turns a mosquito into an elephant'.
Do you use the same animals or do you have other expressions with animals?

Here is a whole thread on animals expressions that took place in the Spanish Forum a while ago.

 Belén


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## belén

Hello,

In Spanish we say "to make a mountain out of a grain of sand", 

I can't think of animal expressions with that meaning now. I will keep thinking.

Cheers,
Be


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## cirrus

The expression for this in english would be to make a mountain out of a molehill.  In terms of animal related expressions in English, there are lots.  

It's the cat's whiskers =it's brilliant
like the cat that got the cream= very happy
to be dogged by something = you can't shake off persistent problems

I'm sure other forer@s will come up with more for you.


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## Brioche

ALOV said:
			
		

> Hi,
> 
> I wondered if other languages have a similar expression for : 'hij maakt van een mug een olifant , meaning 'he exagerates', litterally 'he makes an elephant of a mosquito'/'he turns a mosquito into an elephant'.
> Do you use the same animals or do you have other expressions with animals?
> 
> Here is a whole thread on animals expressions that took place in the Spanish Forum a while ago.
> 
> Belén


 
Looks like the equivalent of the English: _Make a mountain out of a molehill_.

I can't think of an animal to animal equivalent in English.


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## ALOV

Thanx everybody for the interesting links!


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## elroy

In Arabic we say "make a dome out of a grain."  May not sound the most eloquent in English, but it rhymes in Arabic.


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## Sybil

Alov, 

In Polish, we say "make a fork [garden fork] out of a needle" (note: words "garden fork" and "needle" rhyme in Polish) Sorry, no animals


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## Jana337

Let me bring in animals again.

Czech: to make a camel out of a mosquito. (dělat z komára velblouda - literally "to make out of a mosquito a camel).

Jana


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## elroy

Sybil said:
			
		

> Alov,
> 
> In Polish, we say "make a fork [garden fork] out of a needle" (note: words "garden fork" and "needle" rhyme in Polish) Sorry, no animals


 
I think you're thinking of a "rake."

If so, the translation would be "to make a rake out of a needle" (interesting metaphor! )


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## Valmar

In Spanish also: To drown in a glass of water (Ahogarse en un vaso de agua).

Again, sorry, but no animals.

Valmar


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## cherine

Valmar said:
			
		

> In Spanish also: To drown in a glass of water (Ahogarse en un vaso de agua).


We have a similar expression in Arabic, but it's used to refer/describe a person who can't handle the slightest situation.


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## alahay

elroy said:
			
		

> In Arabic we say "make a dome out of a grain."  May not sound the most eloquent in English, but it rhymes in Arabic.




ya3mel mnel 7abbe 'ebbe


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## ElenaofTroy

Valmar said:
			
		

> In Spanish also: To drown in a glass of water (Ahogarse en un vaso de agua).
> 
> Again, sorry, but no animals.
> 
> Valmar



In Spanish we also say: To make a storm in a glass of water (Hacer una tempestad en un vaso de agua). 

No animals come to my mind either.


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## alahay

I guess in italian it would be: "fare una tempesta in un bicchiere d'aqua" which literally translates to "to make a storm in a glass of water"


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## alahay

cherine said:
			
		

> We have a similar expression in Arabic, but it's used to refer/describe a person who can't handle the slightest situation.


I agree! Drowning in a drop of water "lgharee' bi no'tet mai"! Maybe it's not the right expression!


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## ElenaofTroy

alahay said:
			
		

> I agree! Drowning in a drop of water "lgharee' bi no'tet mai"! Maybe it's not right expression!



In Spanish we use BOTH sentences:

To drawn in a glass of water (Ahogarse en un vaso de agua) referring to someone who cannot handle the slightest situation, as it´s been said, and

To make a storm in a glass of water (Hacer una tempestad en un vaso de agua) referring to someone who exagerates the size of a problem. 

Iliana


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## amikama

Hebrew:
עשה פיל מזבוב = he made an elephant of a fly
חולל סערה בכוס מים = he made a storm in a glass of water
ראה צל הרים כהרים = he saw the shadow of the mountains as mountains


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## Chabada

In French: En faire toute une montagne / Faire une montagne de [quelque chose].


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## Samaruc

We have a similar expression in Valencian-Catalan that is very used in València:

"Fer d'una puça un cavall"

that literally means "To make a horse out of a flea".


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## Outsider

Portuguese: 

_Fazer uma tempestade num copo de água._ 
"To make a storm in a teacup", approximately.

_Fazer um bicho de sete cabeças._ 
"To make a seven-headed beast out of it."


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## maver

ALOV said:
			
		

> Hi,
> 
> I wondered if other languages have a similar expression for : 'hij maakt van een mug een olifant , meaning 'he exagerates', litterally 'he makes an elephant of a mosquito'/'he turns a mosquito into an elephant'.
> Do you use the same animals or do you have other expressions with animals?
> 
> Belén


Hi, 

in Estonian: kärbsest elevanti tegema / to make an elephant of a fly.

Best,
maver


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## nyorai

elroy said:
			
		

> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Sybil*
> _Alov, _
> 
> _In Polish, we say "make a fork [garden fork] out of a needle" (note: words "garden fork" and "needle" rhyme in Polish) Sorry, no animals _
> 
> 
> 
> I think you're thinking of a "rake."
> 
> If so, the translation would be "to make a rake out of a needle" (interesting metaphor! )


 
Sybil is right, elroy - in Polish we make a garden fork (not a rake) out of a needle - robimy z igły widły (widły=a garden fork).


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## Sybil

Thank you, Nyorai  

By the way, to say that someone makes a minor issue a major one, we also use in Polish what looks like the equivalent of the Italian "fare una tempesta in un bicchiere d'aqua" [literal translation: "to make a storm in a glass of water": "burza w szklance wody" ["a storm in a glass of water"].

How interesting


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## Whodunit

In German as in many other languages:

Aus einer Mücke einen Elefanten machen.
To make an elephant out of a midge/mosquito,


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## Ilmo

In Finnish:
Tehdä kärpäsestä härkänen/ To make a (small) bull of a fly.
I guess the bull was chosen as the big animal because of the rhyme of the Finnish words: kärpänen - härkänen
I won't try to explain how to pronounce it


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## Elieri

Sybil said:
			
		

> Thank you, Nyorai
> 
> By the way, to say that someone makes a minor issue a major one, we also use in Polish what looks like the equivalent of the Italian "fare una tempesta in un bicchiere d'aqua" [literal translation: "to make a storm in a glass of water": "burza w szklance wody" ["a storm in a glass of water"].
> 
> How interesting



We have that expression in swedish as well! _"En storm i ett vattenglas" _(a storm in a glass of water) 
As for animals, there's _"A__tt göra en höna av en fjäder"  (To make a hen out of a feather)_


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## alitza

Hello,
In Romanian it is "A face din tantar armasar" which means literally "to turn a mosquito into a stallion".
It really is fascinating to see how different and yet in many ways so similar, this expression is in different languages, isn't it?
Oh, and we also have "furtuna intr-un pahar cu apa" which is " a storm in a glass of water".
Greetings.


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## Outsider

The literal translation of the first Portuguese saying I wrote also is "To make a storm in a glass of water". I can't edit my post, now.


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## Samaruc

Curious... It's literally the same in Valencian or Catalan: "Fer una tempesta en un got d'aigua" (To make a storm in a glass of water).


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## Islendingurinn

Hi

In Iceland we say: "Að gera úlfalda úr mýflugu" and is the same as "To make a camel out of a mosqito"


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## spirit

maver said:
			
		

> Hi,
> 
> in Estonian: kärbsest elevanti tegema / to make an elephant of a fly.
> 
> Best,
> maver


 
Actually, I think it`s still "to make an elephant out of a *mosquito*". In Estonian "sääsest elevanti tegema". At least, that`s what we say in South-Estonia


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## Jesse Kuiper

In Dutch we have also "een storm in een glas water" ("a storm in a glass of water")


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## Tyfo

Danish;

En storm i et glas vand. (A storm in a glass of water).
At lave en fjer til fem høns. (To make a feather into five hens).


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## MusicalGuy

ElenaofTroy said:


> In Spanish we also say: To make a storm in a glass of water (Hacer una tempestad en un vaso de agua).
> 
> No animals come to my mind either.



We have the exact same expression in Turkish: "to make a storm in a glass of water"!  Does anyone have an expression like "drown smb. in a spoonful of water" like we do in Turkish?


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## Nizo

Esperanto:  _fari monton el talpejo_ (to make a mountain out of a molehill).


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## avok

Turkish: 

"Pireyi deve yapmak": "To make a camel out of a flea"


"Bir bardak suda fýrtýna koparmak." : "To make a storm in a glass of water"


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## Nizo

Afrikaans:  _van 'n muggie 'n olifant maak_ (similar to the Dutch:  to make an elephant out of a gnat)


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## Maja

In Serbian:
napraviti od komarca magarca (to make a donkey out of a mosquito).


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## Mjolnir

In Hebrew we also have "to make a mountain out of a mouse". It rhymes.


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## J.F. de TROYES

Samaruc said:


> Curious... It's literally the same in Valencian or Catalan: "Fer una tempesta en un got d'aigua" (To make a storm in a glass of water).


 
It's also exactly the same in French :

" C'est une tempête dans un verre d'eau"


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## Mahaodeh

In Arabic we also have "to make a storm in a coffee cup".


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## dudasd

Serbian: To make a donkey out of mosquito (it rhymes: Praviti od komarca magarca).


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## Lewell

in afrikaans, maak n berg van n molshoop


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## Robmusa

a Latin expression in a similar vein, quoted by Schopenhauer is:


"In pulicis morsu Deum invocare"  call upon the Deity at every flea-bite


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## Fray Luis

A less common expression in Spanish is "tropezar con un garbanzo" (to bump into a chick pea") It's said of a person who easily gets discouraged with an insignificant problem. Still, no animal. Sorry.


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## wbhindyou

Vietnamese:

"Chuyện bé đừng xé ra to" (lit. Story tiny don't bring out big)


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## Encolpius

*Hungarian*

Bolhából elefántot csinál. 

to make an elephant out of a flea


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## MusicalGuy

in Turkish we say:
to make a camel out of a flea

sorry for the veeeery late response!


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## apmoy70

In Greek:

«Βγάζω απ'τη μύγα ξίγγι***»
['vɣazo apti 'miɣa 'ksiɲɟi]
lit. "to obtain from a fly, suet"

*** MG neuter noun «ξίγγι» which derives from the Byzantine Greek neuter noun «ἀξούγγιον» [a'ksuɲɟi.on] a Latin loan word < axungia (axle grease)


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## rusita preciosa

Russian:*дeлать **из мухи слона* /delat iz mukhi slona/ - make an elephant out of a fly
one variation of the saying above:* раздуть из мухи слона* /pazdut iz mukhi slona/ - blow a fly into an elephant
also, like in Spanish, we have *буря в стакане */buria v stakane/ - a storm in a glass


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## ilocas2

In Czech there is also *bouře ve sklenici vody* (storm in glass of water)


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## eno2

apmoy70 said:


> In Greek:
> 
> «Βγάζω απ'τη μύγα ξίγγι***»
> ['vɣazo apti 'miɣa 'ksiɲɟi]
> lit. "to obtain from a fly, suet"
> 
> *** MG neuter noun «ξίγγι» which derives from the Byzantine Greek neuter noun «ἀξούγγιον» [a'ksuɲɟi.on] a Latin loan word < axungia (axle grease)


 Sweat? 



That would be  "remove thaw from a fly"? Or sweat? ξίγγι is not in WR .


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## Messquito

Chinese:
小題大作 to make big little problems
小事化大 to big-ize little matters


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## apmoy70

eno2 said:


> Sweat?


Tallow, Talg, smeer.
In its unrendered form it's called suet.


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## Dymn

In Catalan perhaps the most common expression is:

_fer-ne un gra massa _("to make [of it] a grain too much", I'm not sure about the syntaxis of the phrase)


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## ilocas2

Maja said:


> In Serbian:
> napraviti od komarca magarca (to make a donkey out of a mosquito).





dudasd said:


> Serbian: To make a donkey out of mosquito (it rhymes: Praviti od komarca magarca).



Slovak: *robiť z komára somára* - to make a donkey out of a mosquito


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## spindlemoss

Welsh: *gwneud môr a mynydd o rywbeth *"make a sea and mountain out of something"

Scottish Gaelic: *dèanamh cuan mòr de chaolas cumhang *"make a big ocean out of a narrow strait"

Irish: *scéal chailleach an uafáis a dhéanamh de rud* "make a wild hag's tale of something" or *míol mór a dhéanamh de mhíoltóg* "make a whale out of a midge"


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## Messquito

大驚小怪 Big shock, little weird


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## Sardokan1.0

_in Sardinian :_

_Bogare montes dae fundu_ = Remove mountains from the foundation

_Fàghere su fràigu*** de Roma_ = To make the construction of Rome

It's said when someone exaggerates or complains about how hard it was the work

*** _Fràigu _= construction site, building under construction (twisted version of the Latin "fabrica" : fabrica -> frabica -> fraica -> fraiga -> fraigu)


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## ilocas2

Czech: *dělat z něčeho třetí světovou* - to make the third world war out of something


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