My wife and I were discussing this saying. I was adamant that it is 'for' and not 'through'. Obviously my wife disagrees because 'through' makes more sense.
We are both familiar with the meaning. The meaning being one is overconcerned about details and cannot see the big picture.
So...please, confirm that I am correct and my wife is absolutely wrong. 😀 😉
-Kierf!
I'm for for, for it is the only way that I've ever heard it. I predict your wife's through is through.
I've only heard for. I texted 4 people last night, all came back saying through, but were not sure since I had mentioned it.
They're gonna get pwned! 😀
Yes, it's definitely "You can't see the forest for the trees." It makes perfect sense because "for" here means "because of" or "due to." Ask your wife is she knows the saying about "For want of a nail." It's the same "for."
Here's the entry for "can't see the forest for the trees" in the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.
"For" the trees. Seeing the forest "through" the trees doesn't make sense because if you look through the trees, you are looking past the trees to the non-forest area beyond, which is not the forest. You can see the forest through the window, for example, but not through the trees.
However, this is an interesting question. Perhaps we should add a section to our training manual about confused idioms, but this might be putting all our eggs before the horse.