nit-picking

nitpicking

An act or instance of pointing out or complaining about every flaw that one comes across (in or about something), no matter how small, petty, or insignificant. Sometimes hyphenated. You might disregard my points as just nitpicking, but you'll appreciate it when you get an A+ on this paper. This is why I hate going to the movies with you. Instead of just enjoying what we watch, you spend the whole time nit-picking!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

nit-picking

n. too much minor criticism; overly particular criticism; nagging. Enough nit-picking! What are the major problems?
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • nitpicking
  • nitpicker
  • nit-picker
  • picker
  • pickers
  • one or two
  • great oaks from little acorns grow
  • Great oaks from little acorns grow, and Mighty oaks from little ...
  • great/tall oaks from little acorns grow
  • mighty oaks from little acorns grow
References in periodicals archive
To be honest, you are more likely to be successful without nit-picking rules which are often impossible to stick to in the long term.
The history of philosophy suggests that the nit-picking of Socrates' wife drove him out into the streets of the Agora, where he became the number-one nagger of the Athenians.
This process, which veterans have long called "nit-picking the standards" is a thing of the past because the bulky ambiguous language that occasioned the nit picking is gone.
If she saw Incubus without you, don't take it out on her by nit-picking over peeves you never even noticed before.
We felt that (1) the pros of each mode negated any of the perceived cons, (2) it would be wise to focus more on the positives, and (3) that while the field is rife with argumentation, much of it amounts to nothing more than nit-picking.
"`They're nit-picking,' Indianapolis Coach Jim Mora said.
One reason discussions of "realism" and "correspondence" come off sounding so technical and nit-picking is due to the fact that they are not very closely tied in with the practices they are supposed to illuminate.
If I were as graceful in print as Knight, I might already have worked in my nit-picking, but I ain't, so here's an addendum of small demurrals.
Nothing is covered in nit-picking depth and this makes it readable and suitable for the trainee of non-specialist.
She refuses to get bogged down in the nit-picking over when life begins.
On display throughout the book, of course, are the tit-for-tat, nit-picking, fetish-for-trivia pathologies that make lawyers (and I'm one of them) such a contemptible breed.
Executives want recommendations that are substantial and well founded, and they are highly intolerant of "nit-picking" results that they believe auditors sometimes include simply to have a greater number of findings and recommendations to offer.
Some politicians and media will no doubt be nit-picking and counting the cost of the number of presenters, camera crews, producers and all the logistics involved.
The young men who saved this country in 1940, deserve their place in history and this is not to be trivialised by petty nit-picking.
And so we churn out poorly educated, often unhappy children, under ridiculous, nit-picking rules which seem to be designed to get as much money as possible out of decent parents.