bigger fish to fry
More pressing concerns
More important matters to attend to.
The expression dismisses something as not worth one's time or attention: I'm not going to argue about parking spots—I've got bigger fish to fry.
The image suggests choosing which tasks deserve your effort, like a fisherman who throws back small catches.
Also appears as *other fish to fry*.
bottom line
Essential point or conclusion
- fishing idiomshook line and sinker, the one that got away, cast a wide net, take the bait, reel in
- folk sayingsproverb, adage, maxim, folk saying, old saying
bigger fish to frynitpicking
Excessive focus on trivialities
making a mountain out of a molehill · tempest in a teapot · micromanaging · splitting hairs · fiddling while Rome burns
bigger fish to frytunnel vision
Inability to see periphery
missing the big picture · myopia · shortsightedness · small-minded · petty
bigger, biggest, otherwise, fish, fishes, fished, fishing, fisher, fishery