The common expression buscarle tres pies al gato applies to a person who is irritating someone, who may be losing his or her patience, by being very argumentative, and trying to prove something that cannot be proved with arguments that serve no purpose. People who love arguing or who have an impulse to always being right, have a tendency to split hairs. This expression is applied to those who try to prove the impossible with sophisms and fallacious arguments. Buscarle tres pies al gato is to complicate matters, to make Ilife difficult and also to ask for trouble looking for far-fetched approaches to simple situations.
Through thick and thin
¡Contigo pan y cebolla!
To split hairs
Buscarle (los) tres pies al gato
Better safe than sorry
Más vale prevenir que curar
Desperate times call for desperate measures
A grandes males, grandes remedios
To play by the book
El agua clara y el chocolate espeso
To be a Jack of all trades
Ser un todoterreno
To get down to business
Manos a la obra
You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours
¡Hoy por ti, mañana por mí!
To kill two birds with one stone
Matar dos pájaros de un tiro
To grab the bull by the horns
Coger el toro por los cuernos
Doing work you enjoy isn't a chore
Sarna con gusto, no pica
The early bird doesn't always catch the worm
No por Mucho Madrugar, Amanece Más Temprano
The early bird catches the worm
A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda
To look after number one
Barrer para casa
To help out
Echar un cable
To have connections
Ser o estar enchufado
Haste makes waste
Vísteme despacio que tengo prisa
To make a mountain out of a molehill
Ahogarse en un vaso de agua
Rome wasn't built in a day
No se ganó Zamora en una hora
No worries, you'll find it!
Lo que no se comen los ratones, sale por los rincones
No gimmicks, no tricks
Sin trampa ni cartón
To handle things tactfully
Tener mano izquierda
To be useless
Ser un cero a la izquierda
To backslide
Volver a las andadas
Slow but steady
Sin prisa pero sin pausa