Chercher midi à 14 heures


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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
(se) faire une montagne d’une taupinière – to make a mountain out of a molehill