Today, we want to discuss the meaning of a very common Italian idiom: Cercare il pelo nell’uovo (literally “to search for a hair in the egg”). This expression, which is very familiar to most Italians, signifies being overly meticulous and seeking out faults and flaws in others, even when they are imperceptible or non-existent.
In English, three similar expressions are “to be a nitpick“, “to split hairs” or “to fault-find“, but the difference is that, while a nitpicker or hair-splitter may well discover an actual fault if they look hard enough, a person who searches for a hair inside an unbroken egg is engaging in a pointless endeavour.
Perché devi sempre cercare il pelo nell’uovo?
Why do you always have to nitpick?
Non puoi mai accontentare Giovanni, perché lui è sempre alla ricerca del pelo nell’uovo.
You can never please Giovanni because he’s such a nitpicker.
It’s interesting to note that there is a lesser-known variation of this phrase, Trovare il pelo nell’uovo (To find the hair in the egg), which carries more or less the same meaning as the one we have just explored.
Non perdiamo tempo a trovare il pelo nell’uovo, concentriamoci sulle cose importanti.
Let’s not waste time splitting hairs, let’s focus on the important things.
The moral of the story? Don’t be that person who “searches for a hair in an egg” – your friends and family will thank you for it!
Sources: The Local Italy, Corriere dello Spettacolo
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Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
