pile Pelion on Ossa



pile Pelion on Ossa

1. To further complicate something that is already tedious or challenging. Ossa and Pelion are two mountains in Greece. A: "I told Becky you would pick her up." B: "I already have so much to do today—quit piling Pelion on Ossa!" Just when I thought I was almost done sorting these files, my boss piled Pelion on Ossa and brought me another box of them.
2. To do something that seems futile. I know that I'm just piling Pelion on Ossa by telling you to stay away from that boy, but I'm your father, and I don't want to see you get hurt. That couch will never fit up the steps—tell them to stop piling Pelion on Ossa!
See also: on, ossa, Pelion, pile

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Darby['da:bi]
TheaTE-ah (German), THEE-ə (English)German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, English
Rod[rɔd]
WojtekVOI-tekPolish
Ashmole['æʃməul]
Rohit-Indian, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Odia, Gujarati, Kannada, Telugu, Nepali