pigs and whistles

Examples

• All

• 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

M

to make a meal of

vspigs and whistles

• Informal

2 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

M

to make a mountain out of a molehill

vspigs and whistles

• Informal

2 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

O

to overcomplicate

vspigs and whistles

2 5.8

Make something harder than it needs to be

also covers simply making a mess rather than only adding complexity

F

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

M

to make hard work of

vspigs and whistles

• UK

1 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

M

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

M

to make heavy weather of

vspigs and whistles

• UK

1 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

B

to bodge

vspigs and whistles

• UK

1 9.9

Do a job badly so it does not work

focuses on making things needlessly complex or just messy instead of neat

M

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

How Messy

to ruin

∞ 2.0

to bungle

19 6.8

to create a mess

4 2.1

pigs and whistles

• Informal

9.9

to complicate

136 4.1

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology