Definition
做文章 is a verb-object phrase (离合词) that literally means 'to do an article' but idiomatically means 'to make a big issue out of something' or 'to fuss'. It is often used in the pattern 拿…做文章 or 在…上做文章, meaning 'to seize on (a topic) to make a fuss'. Remember, the verb 做 and the object 文章 can be separated by measure words or modifiers (做了很多文章).
v
to make an issue of somethingto fuss over somethingto make a song and dance about something
Examples
- 。Tāmen zài zhè jiàn shì shàng zuò le bù shǎo wénzhāng.They made quite a fuss over this matter.
- 做文章。Nǐ búyòng ná zhè jiàn shì lái zuò wén zhāng.You don't need to make an issue out of this.
- 做文章。Tā zǒng xǐhuan zài xìjié shàng zuò wén zhāng.He always likes to fuss over details.
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