Over-egg the pudding

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Meaning

Spoil something by embellishing it, exaggerating it or adding more than is needed. The hyphenated spelling 'over-egg' is standard in major British dictionaries. Regional use: British English, with early Yorkshire evidence.

Origin

The figurative phrase grows directly from cookery: excess egg can make a pudding too rich, rubbery or unable to set properly. It is in print by 1845, where it is described as a Yorkshire expression. A particular link to Yorkshire pudding is plausible but not proved.

Research Sources

  1. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: over-egg
  2. Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: over-egg the pudding
  3. Phrase Finder: Over-egg the pudding

Variants

  • Overegg the pudding
  • Over-egg it

Usage Examples

  • The proposal was convincing until the designer over-egged the pudding with three unnecessary animations.
  • Describe the delay honestly, but do not over-egg the pudding by calling it a catastrophe.

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