meaning of idiom make a mountain out of a molehill
Make a mountain out of a molehill The idiom is a metaphor for the common behaviour of responding disproportionately to something - usually an adverse circumstance. One who "makes a mountain out of a molehill" is said to be greatly exaggerating the severity of the situation.[1] In cognitive psychology, this form of distortion is called magnification[2] or overreacting. The phrase itself is so common that a study by psychologists found that with respect to familiarity and image value, it ranks high among the 203 common sayings they tested.[3]
William Edward Hickson The proverb can be traced back to the writings of Thomas H. Palmer in his Teacher's Manual, and The Children of the New Forest by Frederick Marryat.[3]
Margaret Wolfe Hungerford Molly Bawn contains Hungerford's most famous idiom:
Babylon Babylon (