The real definition? I'm not sure. BUT! I can give it a whirl. Since we know that to be human is never perfect, 'perfect to a fault' allows us to view something that might appear perfect, knowing it MUST have a fault somewhere. Shoot! We do, so must it because even our eyesight isn't perfect.
For you Element, I'll even take it another degree. The grain of led you use to draw the "perfect" circle is not going to be "perfect." When the led hits the paper, the grain of paper that it is implanting the perfect circle will not be perfect. There can not be anything perfect that our minds can comprehend. Man, I feel like I'm writing a paper for school in a cliff note!!!
This post was edited by Merlin at January 11, 2018 11:10 AM MST
Huge Giggles! So true! It can be used perfectly in an imperfect world interrupted by people who think they are perfect to others. What really happened was a perfect game bowled by a knowingly imperfect person who was called a perfect asshole for bowling the perfect game. In her imperfect way she knew he was a perfect 10 for 10 in more ways than the perfect 10 could ever imagine. Big winks and smiles. Ya gotta love the word perfect in all its glory and all it's imperfecticalities!!!
This post was edited by Merlin at January 11, 2018 11:58 AM MST
I think the proverb is about people who pursues one (and only one) aspect of perfection (eg: Frieda in "Peanuts" who is so very proud of her naturally curly hair.)
It is where someone is so perfect in one aspect that another will be lacking. If someone is honest to fault, they will tell the truth even at the expense of someone's feelings. Or the are working on one aspect of a project making it perfect but neglecting another portion of the project as a result.
"To a fault" is ordinarily used to modify an adjective which describes some desirable or otherwise positive characteristic of a person.
Sometimes the expression functions as a strong intensifier, meaning "extremely."
Often, however, the expression is used to indicate that the person possesses or exhibits that characteristic in a measure which can reasonably be regarded as disproportionate, unwise, over the top, or annoying.
I added the bold emphasis. It is the way I usually use it---and it's been about 10 years since I have done so, while I was providing a reference for a coworker.
(The response of the person who called me to ask me about my reference said that she had never had all the questions she had intended to ask a reference be answered by the reference in one sentence.)
The "faults" can include undue obsession while ignoring other equally or more important issues.
In once episode of Air Disasters on cable, investigators had to determine the cause of the crash of a modern 3 engine jet that had crashed into the forest after loosing one engine (This modern jet, like most, are designed to remain in the air with only one engine operational.)
It turned out that the pilot was so pre-occupied / obsessed with trying to restart the engine that he flew the plane in the approved holding pattern until he simply ran out of fuel.
The way I've always heard it used is to describe someone who is so anal about something that they do "just so" that they tend to constantly find fault in others. That may be one specific thing/area or they may just generally be a perfectionist. They aren't necessarily rude in their fault-finding, and they may never even openly express it at all. They do, however, tend to clearly convey their disapproval, whether spoken or not.
There are such people who extend, or even limit, their fault-finding to themselves. These are people who obsess over the tiniest infraction, even when it was something clearly unintentional or even beyond their knowledge or control.
Merlin 