A minor detail
Meaning
An unimportant aspect or piece of information that does not significantly affect the main issue or outcome.
Origin
The phrase 'a minor detail' isn't rooted in some grand historical event or ancient ritual; rather, it's a testament to the elegant simplicity of language. 'Minor' descends from the Latin minor, meaning 'smaller' or 'lesser,' a word that has long served to qualify things of diminished importance. Its counterpart, 'detail,' springs from the Old French detail, originally meaning 'a cutting into small pieces,' which evolved to denote a small, specific item or piece of information. As English speakers sought a clear, concise way to dismiss an insignificant point, these two perfectly aligned words naturally gravitated towards each other. Their fusion provided a punchy, unambiguous idiom to highlight that something, however precise, simply doesn't move the main needle.
Examples
- We're almost ready to launch; the color of the background image is just a minor detail we can finalize later.
- He obsessed over every comma in the report, but to the board, it was merely a minor detail compared to the overall financial projections.