If you’re from a family who tends to exaggerate, you will be familiar with the term making a mountain out of a molehill.
This may come about in a number of ways. If you forget to bring a cake to a tea party, your host might show a great deal of distress over your forgetfulness. The guests might think her performance is unnecessary as most of them are on a raw-foods diet.
Drama, drama, drama
Some people just have a flair for exaggeration and my husband is one of these people. Every incident no matter how small or insignificant gets the full attention of a two-hour drama. I assume for him, it’s a way of spicing up a rather dull life so I leave him to it.
For the most part…
But when he makes mountains out of what I believe to be molehills, then we’re in for a massive fight. This usually goes on for quite a few hours and it gets very difficult to get off the top of the mountain top.
Just not reasonable
For example, if I forget to make a potato salad for his dinner with his guy friends I am accused of stupidity and a whole lot of other derogatory slights. That I simply forgot, is never a good enough reason – and we have to agree disagree.
This behaviour is so unreasonable and challenging – and it helps you to see why the behaviour is described in one of the English language’s most hard-to-say words Batrachomyomachy.
You did not need to know that, but I threw in for a tongue-twisting challenge – suffice to say some idioms are better said just as they are. We all get along just fine by knowing when friends or family members or even work colleagues and especially bosses are making a mountain out of a molehill.