Idiom of the Day: the big picture

Hanging The Great Picture, the world's largest print photograph, by Ron Johnson and The Legacy Project (2006). This image was found in Wikimedia Commons.  Here we see a literal meaning for "the big picture," where two men stand in front of the largest photograph in the world.

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Today's Idiom

the big picture: the whole story of something, a complete view of something

Bitola Panorama, by Petar Milošević, in Bitola, Macedonia (2008).

Context

In the image above, photographer Petar Milošević gives us the big picture of the town of Bitola.  We see the geography of the land, and we see the houses.  This is a more complete view, than a photo of one street in Bitola.

Example sentences

This idiom is usually used with these verbs: get, give, see, and show.

1) "You want to memorize a dictionary? You're not getting the big picture.  To learn English you must communicate with people." 

• (In this example, dictionary vocabulary is one small part of learning a language.  The big picture includes listening, reading, speaking, writing, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.) 

2) "I went to the doctor's office this morning, and I think I see the big picture.  Eating vegetables is not enough.  I must exercise too."  

• (In this example, eating vegetables is one small part of being healthy.  The big picture includes exercise also.)

Grammar and Usage

Seeing the big picture means to understand all of a situation.  A situation, usually, is developing, or is changing.  It's not over.  The big picture is often used in the present progressive (or present continuous). 

Are you interested in digital photography?
Here are the largest digital images ever created.  These links take you to interactive sites, where you can explore the images.

• Electron Micrograph of a Zebrafish Embryo 281 Gigapixels (2012)
• Shanghai 272 Gigapixels (Dec, 2010)
• Sevilla 111 Gigapixels (Dec, 2010)

News Stories in Photographs

"The Big Picture" is also the name of an online news series by The Boston Globe.  The Big Picture tells news stories from around the world in captivating pictures.  Each picture also has a short text description.  It's a great way to learn about the world in English. 

Now...Practice in the Comments!

Write your own sentences using "the big picture," with one of the four verbs (get, give, see, or show).  You will help students when they can see more examples, and you will learn too!
Have you seen this idiom somewhere.  Share the quote and the source (who said it and where).