hair-splitting

Etymology

 * From the gerund form of split hairs

Noun

 * 1)  the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are probably neither important nor noticeable to most people.
 * 2) * 2006, Ian Aitken, in The Guardian, Richard Clements Obituary
 * Dick's Tribune poked endless fun at the hair-splitting sectarianism of the various Trotskyist groups jostling on the fringes of the Labour party at that time.

Synonyms

 * hair-splittery
 * quibbling
 * pilpul

Translations

 * Finnish: hiusten halkominen
 * French:, , ,
 * German:
 * Hungarian:
 * Icelandic: hártogun
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål: hårkløveri
 * Russian:, ,
 * Swedish: