strain at a gnat

To exaggerate or put too much focus on a minor issue and make it seem like a major one. You got one B and you're acting like you're failing the class. You're straining at a gnat, if you ask me. This is just a minor setback, so let's not strain at a gnat.

strain at a gnat

LITERARY

If someone strains at a gnat, they concern themselves with something small and unimportant, sometimes failing to deal with something much more important. People worry over tiny differences in the fat content of food while eating huge quantities of sugar. It's a classic case of straining at a gnat. Note: You can also say that someone strains at a gnat and swallows a camel, with the same meaning. One must be wary of straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. Note: This expression comes from the Bible. Jesus used it when criticizing the scribes and the Pharisees for being too concerned with unimportant areas of the Jewish law. (Matthew 23:24)

strain at a gnat

make a difficulty about accepting something trivial. literary

The phrase derives from Matthew 23:24, ‘Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel’. The word strain here appears to mean ‘make a violent effort’, but it may in fact refer to the straining of a liquid to remove unwanted particles: the image is of a person quietly accepting a difficulty or problem of significant proportions while baulking at something comparatively trivial.

词组	strain at a gnat
释义	strain at a gnat strain at a gnat To exaggerate or put too much focus on a minor issue and make it seem like a major one. You got one B and you're acting like you're failing the class. You're straining at a gnat, if you ask me. This is just a minor setback, so let's not strain at a gnat. See also: gnat, strain Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. strain at a gnat LITERARY If someone strains at a gnat, they concern themselves with something small and unimportant, sometimes failing to deal with something much more important. People worry over tiny differences in the fat content of food while eating huge quantities of sugar. It's a classic case of straining at a gnat. Note: You can also say that someone strains at a gnat and swallows a camel, with the same meaning. One must be wary of straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. Note: This expression comes from the Bible. Jesus used it when criticizing the scribes and the Pharisees for being too concerned with unimportant areas of the Jewish law. (Matthew 23:24) See also: gnat, strain Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. strain at a gnat make a difficulty about accepting something trivial. literary The phrase derives from Matthew 23:24, ‘Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel’. The word strain here appears to mean ‘make a violent effort’, but it may in fact refer to the straining of a liquid to remove unwanted particles: the image is of a person quietly accepting a difficulty or problem of significant proportions while baulking at something comparatively trivial. See also: gnat, strain Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary See also: make a (big) thing (out) of (something) make a drama out of (something) make a drama out of something make a mountain of a molehill make a mountain out of a molehill, to make a thing of make a thing of/out of something make mountains out of molehills mole molehill References in classic literature But you're my sister's husband, and we ought to stick together; and if I know Harriet, she'll consider it your fault if we quarrel because you strain at a gnat in this way, and refuse to do Fred a good turn. Middlemarch In that they cross land and sea to make unto themselves one proselyte, swallow a camel and strain at a gnat, it will be interesting to discover how this time Cameron will argue that he has again been misinterpreted especially when all his rhetorical skills will be fully employed in convincing us he is not breaking up the NHS for profit. Cameron, do your bit for Big Society; letters@coventrytelegraph.net Letters letters@coventrytelegraph.net Though Pharisees frequently appear in the pages of Scripture as foils to Christ's teaching, as hypocrites who strain at a gnat but swallow a camel, it was not the righteousness of Pharisees which Jesus condemned, but rather their focus on the letter of the law to the exclusion of the spirit. Nicodemus Its telltale signs are a lack of journalistic balance and a sad tendency to strain at a gnat while swallowing a camel. Are the Religious Founders Unfounded?
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