much ado about nothing


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much ado about nothing

A lot of commotion or excitement over something insignificant. This really isn't a big deal—it's all much ado about nothing.
See also: ado, much, nothing
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

much ado about nothing

Cliché a furor over something unimportant. (The name of a Shakespeare play.) All this arguing is much ado about nothing.
See also: ado, much, nothing
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

much ado about nothing

A big fuss over a trifle, as in Jerry had everyone running around looking for his gloves-much ado about nothing. Although this expression is best remembered as the title of Shakespeare's comedy, the phrase much ado was already being used for a big commotion or trouble in the early 1500s.
See also: ado, much, nothing
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

much ado about nothing

JOURNALISM
If you describe a situation as much ado about nothing, you mean that people are making a lot of fuss about something which is not very important. French newspapers described the international row as `Much Ado About Nothing'. After one year, I dropped out of the course because it was much ado about nothing really. It was all about style, not about content. Note: `Much Ado About Nothing' is the title of a play by Shakespeare.
See also: ado, much, nothing
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

much ado about nothing

A commotion over a trifle; a tempest in a teapot. It is best remembered as Shakespeare’s title for a comedy, but the term was already known by the time he used it. The noun ado, meaning “a big fuss,” survives largely in this cliché.
See also: ado, much, nothing
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
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References in periodicals archive ?
Although having significant bloodshed and a more expansive setting that makes use of the Guggenheim Museum, among other locations, the more meditative approach resonates with Much Ado About Nothing. The moments of comedy in Hamlet, with Bill Murray as Polonius and Steve Zahn and Dechen Thurman as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, are somewhat akin to the comedic approach in Whedon's adaptation.
? Much Ado About Nothing is at The Stiwt Theatre, Rhos near Wrexham on Tuesday October 25 at 7.30pm 01978 841300.
In part, of course, what we encounter in Much Ado About Nothing merely offers a paradigm of the problematically furtive and mutually revealing relationships Shakespeare's plays regularly assume with the materials that influence them.
Think all this book talk is much ado about nothing? Think again.
Feminist Gloria Steinem went further, declaring it to be "much ado about nothing" (Toronto Star, Feb.
Much Ado About Nothing Comedy in five acts by William SHAKESPEARE, performed in 1598-99 and printed in a quarto edition from the author's fair papers in 1600.
I will stop your mouth' (Much Ado about Nothing V.iv.97), the line which puts a stop to Beatrice's disavowals of her love for Benedick, is assigned by the Quarto, the only text with authority, to Leonato.(1) The Folio saw no reason to correct this.
While announcements of the so-called "ban" generated mostly positive media attention for the stations, some industry experts believe the policy is much ado about nothing. They say broadcasters are always sensitive to what may offend listeners as well as advertisers, and that the "new" attitudes of these stations reflect business as usual.
This "performance" of natural phenomena (much ado about nothing) underscores the deadpan quality of Craigie's ensembles, a quality evident in the artist's almost obsessive commitment to precision in the service of nonsense--a kind of pragmatic Dada.
Thus Chapter 10 is made up of "The Land: Love's Labours Lost," "The Lords: A Comedy of Errors," "Ireland: The Winter's Tale," and "The Church: Much Ado About Nothing." One emerges from the work with both an appreciation of Cannadine's industry and a willingness to assent to most of his broad conclusions--and yet a nagging sense of discomfort remains.
Chaucer, in his Troilus and Criseyde (see Troilus ), makes him Criseyde's uncle, a worldly wise, but sympathetic character Shakespeare, in his drama Troilus and Cressida, represents him as procuring for Troilus the good graces of Cressida, and in Much Ado About Nothing, it is said that Troilus " was the first employer of panders.
General auditions for College of DuPage Theatre's spring productions of "Much Ado About Nothing" and "The Diary of Anne Frank" will be from 7 to 10 p.m.
As Eugene Opera's production of "Much Ado About Nothing (Batrice et Bndict)" approaches, the Eugene Public Library is holding a film screening and public talk, both free to the public.