Door de bomen het bos niet meer zien
Example: Soms zie je door de bomen het bos niet meer tijdens stress.
Definition
"Door de bomen het bos niet meer zien" is a Dutch expression meaning to become so overwhelmed by details that one loses sight of the bigger picture, often used when someone cannot understand or judge a situation clearly due to confusion or complexity.
Etymology
The phrase "door de bomen het bos niet meer zien" literally translates as 'not seeing the forest for the trees.' It originates from the idea that being too focused on individual trees (details) prevents seeing the whole forest (the overall situation). This metaphor is common across languages and highlights how focusing on small parts can obscure understanding of the whole.
Learn to use this expression actively
"Door de bomen het bos niet meer zien" appears in the Vocaplus list "Dutch - General - Idioms and Proverbs - (C1) - set 1", containing 100 commonly used expressions.
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to miss the forest for the trees