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French Expression
| Meaning | to complicate things, make something more complicated | |
| Literally | to look for noon at 2 pm | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  |
[sher shay mi di ah kah tor zeur] |
| IPA | [ʃɛʁ ʃe mi di a ka tɔʁ zœʁ] | |
Usage notes: When you’re complicating things, you’re looking for noon at 2pm, according to the French idiom chercher midi à quatorze heures.
Par exemple…
| Il n’y a plus de travail à faire, ne cherche pas midi à quatorze heures. | There’s no more work to do, don’t make things more complicated. | |
| Ah, tu cherches toujours midi à quatorze heures ! | Ah, you’re always complicating things! |
It’s kind of an odd expression if you think about it, since finding a time that has already come and gone isn’t just difficult – it’s literally impossible. Fun with idioms! 🙂
Humorous variation: chercher midi à douze heures – to look for noon at twelve o’clock
Somewhat synonymous
- chercher des poux – to quibble
- compliquer les choses – to complicate matters
- couper les cheveux en quatre – to split hairs
- (se) faire une montagne d’une taupinière – to make a mountain out of a molehill
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