Idiom for explaining something too thoroughly

Question

Is there an idiom for explaining something in extreme detail? I know there is an idiom for getting rid of something "root and branch", but based on the examples I've seen, this cannot be used in this kind of context, or can it?

I am looking for a phrase of some sort, somewhat pejorative but a funny one – an idiom, colloquialism or something multi-word. In my language we have a saying that someone explains something and "includes the root" or "explains every pond and pool", e.g. when someone asks the shortest way from point A to point B, and instead of telling which one it is, you start describing every rock and tree and bush on the way, which really is not at all informative. Pretty much an exact opposite to "cutting to the chase".

Answer 1

In my shop we call this getting too deep into the weeds, which is the opposite of taking the thirty-thousand-foot view.

I'm afraid business-communications outfits like mine are sorta heirs to the Madison Avenue tradition that created gems like run it up the flagpole and see who salutes.

Answer 2

If someone is going into too much detail one phrase is

Can't see the wood for the trees.

Which means obscuring the big picture with irrelevant detail.

In this example "wood" means "forest" and not "plank", and without this explanation the example phrase would mean the opposite!

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On a different tack, repeating too much detail can be said to be

Explaining ad nauseam.

Which is a Latin term (in modern use) for an argument or discussion that has continued 'to the point of nausea'.

Answer 3

Overexplaining sounds like a good single-word option here. It is fairly intuitive in its meaning and is very likely to be understood by the other party even without prior knowledge of the word.

I could not find any definition or confirmation in a conventional dictionary, but an example from this online dictionary suggests your intended usage:

overexplain in British

[ˌəʊvərɪkˈspleɪn]

verb

to explain in too much detail

Wiktionary suggests a similar definition (please note that, being an open wiki, Wiktionary's information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate, is not regarded an authoritative source and may contain accidental or deliberate errors):

Etymology

over- +‎ explain

Verb

overexplain

(third-person singular simple present overexplains, present participle overexplaining, simple past and past participle overexplained)

(transitive) To explain at unnecessary length or in too much detail.

Answer 4

Labor the point

Explain or discuss something at excessive or unnecessary length.

Also known as belaboring the point.

to explain or insist on excessively. to keep explaining or insisting on to excess

example usage:

Her habit of belaboring the obvious makes her a very boring speaker.

Note US/UK variation in spelling of labor/labour.

Answer 5

"Going twice around the barn to get to the house" is common in Ohio where I grew up.

Answer 6

Another possibility for a single-word expression of this is pedantic (describes the person or the explanation), perhaps preceded by unnecessarily or excessively or etc.

"Given the level of the class, the professor's lectures were often unnecessarily pedantic."

pedantry refers to the practice of being pedantic. "The class sessions were filled with pedantry." A pedant is someone who often speaks or writes this way.

Answer 7

Perhaps explicate would convey the meaning you want.

From Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary:

explicate something - (formal) to explain an idea or a work of literature in a lot of detail

Answer 8

I may add splitting hair (definition), but that person might also be said to provide circumvoluted explanations (see circumvolute).

Answer 9

You can say one went around the world and back in their explanation.

You can also say they covered every nook, cranny, and then some

Or they simply went off.

Some of these need context though.

Answer 10

"Over-egging the pudding"

Perhaps most relevant to being overly dramatic, but conveys the meaning of providing more substance than is actually required, for the context.

Or

"Laying it on a bit thick"

Or

"Teaching ones grandmother how to suck eggs"

Needlessly explaining to an audience something they are well aware of. Needless, because you ought to realize their awareness.

Or

"Preaching to the choir"

Trying to convince someone of something they are clearly already signed up to the concept of: The choir would be at the front of the church and keen enough on the whole business to occupy that privileged position.

(I'm British by the way, so maybe these are British idioms. I'll stop now in case I start explaining too thoroughly :-)

Answer 11

"Every jot and tittle" and equivalently "Dotting the i's and crossing the t's" are idioms for extreme attention to detail. The former is accredited to Jesus himself (Matthew 5:18).

The question was about extremely detailed, not excessive explanations.

Answer 12

Some additional suggestions:

beating around the bush - when someone keeps talking and won't get to the point

beating it to death - when someone keeps talking and won't get off a topic

the nitty-gritty - exhaustive detail on a topic, not necessarily a negative connotation

all the gory details - same as above

Answer 13

If someone is in the middle of an overly long explanation, you could interrupt and say "I don't need to know how the sausage is made." That might be closer to what you want.

Answer 14

"mansplaining" is a classic, though it only applies to half the population doing it, and is obviously pejorative.

See video of Silicon Valley scene featuring mansplaining.

If it's not pejorative, it could simply be called a thorough explanation. For an idiom, it could be "dotting the i's and crossing the t's."

If it's not necessarily performed by a man, but meant in a pejorative sense, it could be over-explaining, pedantic, or "whipping a dead horse."