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Is there a word or idiom to describe an attempt to win/uphold one side of a discussion (or somehow lessen the other's argument) by introducing some minute factual point?

The best example is when engineering discusses the best way to design something, and then someone offers "your idea is slower or inefficient" even though efficiency is kind of irrelevant in a lot of cases.

For instance an argument about the best design for a doorknob - a lever handle is a better design all around but one could say that it's less efficient or slower to open a lever door handle, than with a door knob. That ignores all the handicapped or elderly, children, etc anyone who might have a problem grasping and turning a round doorknob. Unfortunately in engineering, quite often performance is given more validity than it deserves and is mentioned in discussions way too often when it's not even relevant. You can't say that their point is not valid or should be ignored, but it's also at the very bottom of the list of things to be considered. At which point they will try to subjectively raise it up and remind you it holds validity in some way and shouldn't be disregarded.

I usually say it's splitting hairs or nitpicking but I wonder if there is a better idiom.

Michael Urvan
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3 Answers3

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The OP's minute factual point, irrelevant, at the very bottom of the list of things to be considered, splitting hairs or nitpicking lead me to suggest:

quibble (n.)

1: An evasion of or shift from the point
2: A minor objection or criticism m-w

A quibble is a small and unimportant complaint about something.

These are minor quibbles Collins

quibble (v.)

To complain or argue in a trivial or petty manner Wiktionary

She was a great one for quibbling, detecting inconsistencies, splitting hairs. A. P. Chekhov, Ronald Hingley; The Oxford Chekhov, Vol.7, p.114

Many of the things I say in this review have a tendency to be expressed in a somewhat negative manner pointing out minor imperfections in what is being described. Behind all these quibbles is a general feeling that the Initiative has successfully made many very many people aware... Michael Pool; "Review of the Awareness and Training Activities of the Initiative: in M. R. Jane et al.; Transputer Applications

Because you've bothered to do the writing, the other party is appreciative. They tend not to be picayune or quibble over lesser points. Even if your write-up contains some minor imperfections, most people will be magnanimous and not engage in hair splitting. Herb Cohen; You Can Negotiate Anything

When making a point, stay with it and pursue it objectively without quibbling over minor items and becoming sidetracked. John H. Metzler; Collective Negotiations

DjinTonic
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"Making a mountain out of a molehill", "missing the forest for the trees", and "blowing something out of proportion" all suggest an unwarranted focus on small details that do not matter much in the big picture. They suggest that minor problems are being given too much weight, and that the issues are not very significant when considered in a fuller context. Even though the argument being made might be correct, it is not very impactful.

Nuclear Hoagie
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  • cavil: "to raise trivial and frivolous objection"
  • You could describe a focus on trivial details as triviality, overall
  • Providing for more needs and uses than are strictly necessary could be overengineering.
  • In a product-management context, focusing on meeting non-central use cases could be described as feature creep.
Andy Bonner
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