Meaning:
To make a fuss over something unimportant while ignoring larger issues
Examples:
- Look at that. Edward is combing his hair at his desk. How unprofessional. Jane: Don't strain at gnats and swallow camels. There are worse problems than that around here.
- Amber wastes time in meetings over the most insignificant things—she has no sense of priorities. She’ll strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.
- John is always worried about minor typos in his emails but ignores the fact that his reports are missing key data—he's really straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- The board spent hours debating the color of the office walls but neglected to discuss the budget crisis; they strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel.
- Sheila argued about the font size on the presentation but overlooked the faulty statistics—it’s a classic case of straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- Focusing on whether we use plastic cups during the event while ignoring our environmental impact plan is like straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- David was furious over a small policy change but didn’t care about the company’s huge financial losses. He’s straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- The committee rejected a proposal because of a minor error, yet approved another with significant flaws—they’re straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- People complain about the occasional slow service at the restaurant while ignoring the poor food quality, straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- Sally spent an hour fixing a typo in her essay but ignored the fact that her argument was weak—straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- It’s ironic that the government is tightening regulations on minor offenses while ignoring major corruption—they’re straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- Tom is more worried about formatting his slides than preparing the actual content—he's straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- Management is focusing on cutting small office supply costs but hasn’t addressed the massive marketing overspend—straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- The teacher corrected a student's small spelling mistake but ignored their fundamental misunderstanding of the topic, straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- Jessica was more concerned with the missing comma than the plagiarism in her report, straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- They argued for days about the company logo while the core business strategy was left unattended—they strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel.
- My boss reprimanded me for being two minutes late but ignored the fact that we missed our project deadline—talk about straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- Parents often worry about small messes their kids make but don’t teach them essential life skills—straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- The editor was obsessed with minor grammar errors but missed the major factual inaccuracies in the article, straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- The politician was caught up in a minor scandal but ignored the more pressing issues facing their constituency—straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- Our neighbor spends more time trimming the hedge than fixing the broken fence—straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.
- The team spent weeks deciding the layout of their website but didn’t focus on the poor user experience—they strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel.