# "Sledgehammer solution": correct phrasing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 11, 2018, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sledgehammer-solution-correct-phrasing/806374 "2018-01-11T05:37:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sledgehammer-solution-correct-phrasing/806374/1 "2018-01-11T05:37:16Z")
I’m looking for the correct phrasing for a term referring to a type of overkill…“Sledgehammer solution to a flyswatter problem,” or something like that. I want to get the correct phrasing, because it’s going in a legal paper and the attorney will only allow me to use the one metaphor. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sledgehammer-solution-correct-phrasing/806374/2 "2018-01-11T05:51:40Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I’m looking for the correct phrasing for a term referring to a type of overkill…“Sledgehammer solution to a flyswatter problem,” or something like that. > I want to get the correct phrasing, because it’s going in a legal paper and the attorney will only allow me to use the one metaphor. Any ideas? In my dialect (London), I think the more common idiom is “using a sledgehammer to crack a nut”. I’ve heard the flyswatter version too, but I’d tend to phrase it as “using a sledgehammer when a flyswatter will do”. ETA: here’s a video (that’s about 3 minutes too long) of somebody using a sledgehammer to crack nuts. Ah, youtube. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/acD3RNlckq8/maxresdefault.jpg "Sledgehammer Workout | Tim McComsey") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acD3RNlckq8) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sledgehammer-solution-correct-phrasing/806374/3 "2018-01-11T14:12:06Z")
I’m more familiar with using the Sledgehammer to crack a nut metaphor. It nicely sums up overusing a resource for a problem. Overkill, conveys the same meaning in one word. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sledgehammer-solution-correct-phrasing/806374/4 "2018-01-11T15:38:59Z")
Killing a fly with a sledgehammer is the common answer when googling “overkill metaphor”. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sledgehammer-solution-correct-phrasing/806374/5 "2018-01-11T19:39:51Z")
I’ve always heard it as “Killing flies with a shotgun”. It reminds me of an old Popeye cartoon in which he actually destroys his own house while doing just that. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sledgehammer-solution-correct-phrasing/806374/6 "2018-01-11T20:05:11Z")
There was one in an old Bloom County strip about “swatting a fly with a Buick.” Always liked that one. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sledgehammer-solution-correct-phrasing/806374/7 "2018-01-11T22:29:08Z")
I like “using a bazooka to dispatch a fly” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sledgehammer-solution-correct-phrasing/806374/8 "2018-01-11T22:57:52Z")
“A typically American example of a pile-driver solution for a thumbtack problem” - some guy I heard of