to sweat the small stuff
4
7.7
- idiom
- Informal
:
preocuparse por cosas pequeñas
- Melani: Little things matter, but don't sweat the small stuff.
But in person, a lot of those things fade away and you just focus, you know, you don't sweat the small stuff and, and it's all small stuff, right?
- But in person, a lot of those things fade away and you just focus, you know, you don't sweat the small stuff and, and it's all small stuff, right?
- It is a book I never read, but I read the title and it's a good words to live by, which is don't sweat the small stuff and it's all small stuff.
- Going through such a grieving process that she learned like, this is the big stuff, don't sweat the small stuff.
- And when you have this mindset of just trusting that God's going to always provide you with what's best, that you don't have to sweat the small stuff anymore.
- I mean, life is really a gift, so just enjoy it and, you know, go after what you really want to do with your life and don't sweat the small stuff.
- And it's, it's not necessary to sweat the small stuff when let's just say there are a lot bigger issues that can happen in life.
- In what regard are they able to sweat the small stuff when you're sweating the small stuff for them?
Examples
-
So don't sweat the small stuff.
Blog text (6) -
Sweating the small stuff doesn't help.
Academic text (1998) -
Apparently, I still sweat the small stuff.
-
No, you sweat the small stuff.
-
People need to stop sweating the small stuff.
Blog text (15) -
Wayne, I'm not gonna sweat the small stuff anymore.
-
Don't sweat the small stuff, little guy.
-
And don't sweat the small stuff.
Blog text (27) -
Don't sweat the small stuff.
Blog text (27) -
It's important to focus on what really matters and not sweat the small stuff.
Synonyms
19
2.8
To worry too much about small things
1
6.7
To worry too much about small, unimportant things
How Worried
- Informal
4
7.7
- Informal
1
5.8
370
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to worry needlessly about unimportant things' is directly derivable from combining 'sweat' (to be anxious or worry) with 'the small stuff' (minor/unimportant things). Although 'sweat' is metaphorical (literal perspiration → anxiety), the composition is predictable and cross-linguistically paralleled, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely infer the idiomatic sense.
Etymology
Sweat the small stuff comes from a simple picture: to sweat means to get hot and worried, and small stuff are tiny, unimportant things. That's why saying 'don't sweat the small stuff' tells someone not to worry about little problems.