- Breton: spazhañ laou (br)
- Catalan: trobar pèls als ous (literally “look for hairs in the eggs”), trobar pèls en tot, filar prim (ca), primfilar (ca)
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 雞蛋裡挑骨頭/鸡蛋里挑骨头, 雞蛋裏挑骨頭/鸡蛋里挑骨头 (gai1 daan6-2 leoi5 tiu1 gwat1 tau4, gai1 daan6 leoi5 tiu1 gwat1 tau4), 吹毛求疵 (ceoi1 mou4 kau4 ci1), 指指點點/指指点点 (zi2 zi2 dim2 dim2), 找碴 (zaau2 zaa1), 找岔子 (zaau2 caa3 zi2)
- Hokkien: 指指鑿鑿/指指凿凿 (kí-kí-chha̍k-chha̍k), 揣空揣縫/揣空揣缝 (chhē-khang-chhē-phāng / chhēr-khang-chhēr-phāng / chhōe-khang-chhōe-phāng)
- Mandarin: 吹毛求疵 (zh) (chuīmáoqiúcī, literally “blow apart the hairs upon a fur to discover any defect”), 雞蛋裡挑骨頭/鸡蛋里挑骨头 (zh), 雞蛋裏挑骨頭/鸡蛋里挑骨头 (zh) (jīdàn li tiāo gǔtou, jīdàn lǐ tiāo gútou), 指指點點/指指点点 (zh) (zhǐzhǐdiǎndiǎn), 錙銖必較/锱铢必较 (zh) (zī zhū bìjiào)
- Dutch: haarkloven (nl), muggenziften (nl)
- Finnish: halkoa hiuksia (fi)
- French: couper les cheveux en quatre (fr) (literally “cut hair in four”), chercher la petite bête (fr) (literally “look for the small beast”), enculer les mouches (fr) (literally “sodomize flies”) (vulgar)
- German: Haarspalterei betreiben, Haare spalten
- Hebrew: הִתְפַּלְפֵּל (hitpalpél)
- Hindi: मीन-मेख निकालना (mīn-mekh nikālnā, literally “distinguish between ‘Pisces’ and ‘Aries’”)
- Hungarian: akadékoskodik (hu), szőrszálat hasogat, kákán is csomót keres, szőröz (hu), kukacoskodik (hu)
- Italian: spaccare il capello in quattro (literally “split the hair in four”), cercare il pelo nell'uovo (literally “look for the hair in the egg”), pignolare, fiscalizzare (it), cavillare (it)
- Japanese: 枝葉末節にとらわれる (しようまっせつにとらわれる, shiyōmassetsu ni torawareru), 重箱の隅を楊枝でほじくる (じゅうばこのすみをようじでほじくる, jūbako no sumi o yōji de hojikuru), 難癖を付ける (ja) (なんくせをつける, nankuse o tsukeru)
- Polish: dzielić włos na czworo (pl) impf (literally “split a hair in four”)
- Portuguese: procurar pelo em ovo (literally “look for hair in [an] egg”), procurar chifre em cabeça de cavalo (literally “look for horns on [a] horse's head”)
- Romanian: despica firul în patru (literally “split the strand [of hair] in four”)
- Russian: вдаваться в тонкости (vdavatʹsja v tonkosti)
- Spanish: hilar fino
- Swedish: hårklyveri (sv)
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