What does “Cercare il pelo nell'uovo” mean?
Cercare il pelo nell'uovo
Word for word
To look for the hair in the egg
What it really means
To be far too demanding, to find fault with everything. Used for someone hunting for a problem where there is none.
How we say it in English
To split hairs — English lands on the same hair, from the other direction
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Toccare ferro
To knock on wood — but note Italians reach for iron, not wood
Acqua in bocca!
Mum's the word! — or keep it under your hat
Fare le ore piccole
To stay up into the small hours — English uses the very same phrase for those hours
Chi dorme non piglia pesci
The early bird catches the worm
Fare il finto tonto
To play dumb
In bocca al lupo
Break a leg — and, like "break a leg", you never answer with "thank you"