split hairs

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split hairs pl (plural only)

1. (idiomatic) Tedious details; minutiae.
   • 1999 February 4, Lev Grossman, “Microsoft Tangled Up in Videotape Evidence”, in Time:

     The Microsoft trial had been in danger of slipping out of the public eye. Its endless procession of less-than-riveting economics professors and forgetful executives, mixed with scads of legal and technical split hairs, just hasn't made for gripping headlines.

split hairs (third-person singular simple present splits hairs, present participle splitting hairs, simple past and past participle split hairs)

1. (idiomatic) To consider or argue about fine details; to worry about minutiae.

   Synonym: cavil

   Let's get everything sorted into the right drawers and not split hairs about subdividing it further yet.

• hair-splitting
• hair-splittingly

• chop logic
• nitpick