The word 大惊小怪 is formed by juxtaposing the two contrasting phrases 大惊 (big surprise) and 小怪 (small strangeness), using the characters 大 (big) with 惊 (surprise) and 小 (small) with 怪 (strangeness); this literal combination of "big surprise, small strange" creates an idiomatic meaning that conveys overreacting to minor issues through the emphasized disparity between the scale of the reaction and the actual event.