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Glite Dictionary
pigs and whistles

pigs and whistles

9.9
A messy result when someone makes a simple task more complicated
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : complicaciones innecesarias
  • Don't add any more pigs and whistles to this project!

Examples

  • Please don't turn this repair job into pigs and whistles again!

  • He always adds pigs and whistles to his reports.

  • He managed to make pigs and whistles of the entire presentation.

  • Whenever she tries to organize, it ends up as pigs and whistles.

  • We started out with a simple plan, but he always turns it into pigs and whistles.

  • Every time she explains a task, it ends up sounding like pigs and whistles.

  • Don't make pigs and whistles of what should be an easy job.

Synonyms

to make a mountain out of a molehill
vspigs and whistles
  • Informal
3 6.4

Treat a small problem as if it were very serious

focuses more on complicating or ruining the task itself rather than just exaggeration
to overcomplicate
vspigs and whistles
3 5.8

Make something harder than it needs to be

also covers simply making a mess rather than only adding complexity
to fluff
vspigs and whistles
  • Informal
2 5.4

To make a mistake especially by forgetting words on stage

can instead mean making a task overly complex rather than careless error
to make a meal of
vspigs and whistles
  • Informal
1 8.3

Act as if something is much more difficult or important than it is

is broader and also covers doing the task badly, not just overstating it
to make a pig's ear of
vspigs and whistles
  • UK
1 9.3

Do something very badly and spoil how it turns out

is broader, covering both needless complication and general poor execution
to bodge
vspigs and whistles
  • UK
9.9

Do a job badly so it does not work

focuses on making things needlessly complex or just messy instead of neat
to make a schmutter
vspigs and whistles
  • Slang
9.9

To do something badly so it goes wrong

also includes causing unnecessary complication, not only poor workmanship
to make heavy weather of
vspigs and whistles
  • UK
8.2

Act as if a task is much harder than it is

can instead mean physically messing up the work rather than just exaggerating difficulty
to make hard work of
vspigs and whistles
  • UK
6.0

Do a simple job slowly or in the wrong way so it is much harder than needed

may involve making a messy failure rather than slow or inefficient effort

How Messy

to ruin
∞ 2.0
to bungle
16 6.8
pigs and whistles
  • Informal
9.9
to complicate
101 4.1

Surface Forms

pigs and whistles singular
pigs and whistles plural

Morphology

pigs + and + whistles

The sense 'to complicate or exaggerate a simple task' cannot be predicted from the literal words 'pigs' and 'whistles' (or the conjunction 'and'); there is no compositional connection between these animal/object nouns and the idiomatic meaning. The phrase appears to be a playful or misremembered variant of the idiom 'bells and whistles', making its meaning idiomatic and unpredictable for a B1 learner even if they know the constituents.

Etymology

Pigs and whistles is a playful twist on the older saying 'bells and whistles'. Picture a noisy farm with pigs everywhere and random whistles added for show, and that messy image helps explain why the phrase means 'to complicate or make a mess'.