/ˈfare di ˈuna ˈmoska un eleˈfante/ lit. ‘make an elephant out of a fly’
Italian idiom, everyday. To treat a small problem as if it were a big one.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Italian speaker.
How do people use Fare di una mosca un elefante
?
Everyday, neutral, fine in writing too. Usually aimed at someone else: “stai facendo di una mosca un elefante”, “ha fatto di una mosca un elefante”. The fly comes first, then the elephant, with “di” in front of the fly.
Fare di una mosca un elefante
in real sentences
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Tom ha fatto di una mosca un elefante.
Tom made a mountain out of a molehill.
Tatoeba, sentence by Guybrush88, translation by Spamster, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Fare di una mosca un elefante
come from?
The fly-to-elephant picture is old and shared with German (“aus einer Mücke einen Elefanten machen”) and Russian. It’s usually traced to Erasmus’s Adagia, which lists the Latin “elephantum ex musca facis” (you make an elephant out of a fly) and links it to Lucian’s mock speech in praise of the fly. English Wiktionary gives only the literal meaning and no date for the Italian form.
Mistakes learners make with Fare di una mosca un elefante
Putting “da” instead of “di” (“fare da una mosca un elefante”), or translating the English molehill. Italian doesn’t use “fare una montagna di una talpa”.
Other Italian idioms like Fare di una mosca un elefante
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