much ado about nothing

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• /mʌtʃ əˈduː əˈbaʊt ˈnʌθɪŋ/
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First appears c. the early 1500s, and first found in The Defense of the Aunswere to the Admonition, against the Replie of T. C., a pamphlet (1574) by John Whitgift (Archbishop of Canterbury from 1583 to 1604). Made popular and particularly known from the title of the comedy play Much Ado About Nothing (1598) by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare had earlier used ado (“business, activity”) in the play Romeo and Juliet (1592) Weele keepe no great adoe, a Friend or two, though it is now frequently used to mean fuss as a contraction of the phrase here; nothing in the title of the play is a wordplay which can also mean noting (“to notice”) besides the usual meaning of nothing.

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Asturian: ye más el ruxíu que l'agua del ríu — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Bulgarian: много шум за нищо (mnogo šum za ništo) — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Chinese Mandarin: 瞎折騰 /瞎折腾 (xiā zhēteng) — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Czech: hora porodila myš — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Czech: mnoho povyku pro nic — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Czech: bouře ve sklenici vody — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Esperanto: multa bruo pri nenio — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Finnish: paljon melua tyhjästä — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• French: beaucoup de bruit pour rien — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Galician: cacarexar moito e non poñer ovo — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• German: viel Lärm um nichts — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• German: viel Geschrei und wenig Wolle — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Hungarian: sok hűhó semmiért — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Irish: duifean mór ar bheagán fearthainne — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Irish: glór mór ar bheagán cúise — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Irish: mórán cainte ar bheagán cúise — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Italian: tanto rumore per nulla — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Japanese: 空騒ぎ (karasawagi) — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Polish: (robić) wiele hałasu o nic — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Polish: z dużej chmury mały deszcz — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Portuguese: tempestade em copo d'água — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Portuguese: tempestade num copo d'água — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Russian: мно́го шу́ма из ничего́ (mnógo šúma iz ničevó) — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Scots: muckle adae anent naething — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Spanish: mucho ruido y pocas nueces — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter
• Swedish: mycket väsen för ingenting — a lot of fuss over a trivial matter