"Miss the Forest for the Trees" Idiom Meaning, Origin & History | Superduper English Idioms
Channel: Superduper English Idioms
Date: 2020-07-10

0:00 - How to Say, “Miss the forest for the trees…”
0:40 - Examples of “Miss the forest for the trees…”
1:54 - Meaning of “Miss the forest for the trees…”
3:16 - Origin of “Miss the forest for the trees…”
4:27 - More Examples of “Miss the forest for the trees…”
5:03 - Conclusion

“Miss the forest for the trees…”

Perhaps you’ve heard someone telling another not to, “miss the forest for the trees,” if that other person was focused too much on details.

If that other person couldn’t see the big picture because all their attention was on a particular detail, someone might warn them not to, “miss the forest for the trees.”

“You’re missing the forest for the trees! Step back for a second and think of your entire experiment,” your teacher might say during in-class work on an assignment.

Your grandpa might be giving you life advice, “Don’t ever miss the forest for the trees; there will always be little things that don’t go your way…

… but as long as your life is headed in the direction you want generally, you’re good. Be happy about that instead of upset over the little things!”

You might be giving advice to your cousin who is upset, “Sure, you made a mistake at your last piano recital, but don’t miss the forest for the trees - you’re a fantastic pianist overall and usually perform perfectly.”

As you can see, the idiom, “miss the forest for the trees,” is a metaphor for someone who misses seeing an entire forest, because they are focused on individual trees.

In other words, you will not be able to see the big picture if you focus too much on little details.

In “miss the forest for the trees”, the word “for” is interchangeable with the more easily understandable, “because of”, resulting in “miss the forest because of the trees”.

Some people prefer to say, “can’t see the forest for the trees”, or in plain language, “can’t see the forest because of the trees”.

You may also hear, “miss the wood for the trees,” which sounds funny, but makes more sense once you understand that “wood” is a British term for “small forest”.

This idiom goes back to at least the 16th century, attributed to John Heywood, the famous English writer, poet and playwright.

As you can imagine, “miss the forest for the trees,” is a common human experience and so is an idiom found in many languages.

In Greek, they say, “we see the tree and miss the forest.”

In Hebrew, there is something similar but more profound, “most trees do not see the forest.”

In Vietnamese, they say literally, “see the tree, not the forest.”

In Cantonese, “see tree, no see forest.”

“You’re too focused on winning, you’re missing the forest for the trees. Your main concern should be whether you’re improving,” is something you might say to your brother who plays esports.

“Take a break so that you can step back and assess your overall progress, don’t miss the forest for the trees,” you might tell a co-worker who hasn’t taken a break in four hours.

No matter what situation you find yourself in, make sure that you are not just concentrating on details but are also stepping back and assessing things overall. Don’t miss the forest for the trees!

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