sledgehammer to crack a nut
- idiom
- Informal
:
usar un cañón para matar un mosquito
- Rewriting all the software seemed like a sledgehammer to crack a nut for fixing a small bug.
Examples
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Introducing a complicated new system was a sledgehammer to crack a nut for such a minor issue.
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Hiring a lawyer over a simple misunderstanding is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
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Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut is unnecessary!
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Why are you applying a sledgehammer to crack a nut approach?
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Hiring a lawyer over a simple misunderstanding is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
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Introducing a complicated new system was a sledgehammer to crack a nut for such a minor issue.
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Rewriting all the software seemed like a sledgehammer to crack a nut for fixing a small bug.
Synonyms
To use much more force or effort than needed to solve a small problem
To use much more effort or help than needed to do a small task
How Excessive
Surface Forms
Morphology
sledgehammer + to + crack + a + nut
The figurative meaning is directly inferable from the constituents: 'sledgehammer' (a very large, heavy hammer) plus the small task 'crack a nut' creates an obvious mismatch signalling disproportionate force or resources. This concrete, image-based metaphor is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the words will likely deduce the intended meaning.
Etymology
Sledgehammer to crack a nut comes from the image of using a very large hammer, a sledgehammer, to break a tiny nut, which is far too much force for such a small job. So, it means 'to use far more force or resources than necessary'.