The forest for the trees

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TheParser

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Americans might say, "Mona cannot see the forest for the trees." = She cannot understand the main idea because she pays so much attention to details.

I have just read something written by an English gentleman during World War I: He is "unable to see wood for trees."

In 2012, which expression do most Brits use?

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Tdol

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I use Can't see the wood for the trees.
 

5jj

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I use Can't see the wood for the trees.
So do I. I don't think I have ever heard 'forest' from a speaker of BrE.
 

Tdol

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Until an American speaker told me the idiom, I hadn't come across it.
 
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