Proverbial haystacks

[xjenaferx]

What does it mean when people say that something "is like finding a needle in a preverbial haystack"?

[Postdog]

It means they are saying it wrong - the saying (proverb) is finding a needle in a haystack, which is self explanatory.

[andy-hughes]

'Finding a needle in a haystack' as the visual image suggests, means searching for something which is going to be very hard to find.

The origin is not from trying to find a sewing needle, but a large wooden neele used by thatchers who make thatched rooves for houses. They occasionally would drop a needle into the haystack from which the thatch was being cut, and being the same colour as they hay, it could hard to find.

[lankeela]

I think its the 'proverbial' bit that xjenaferx is referring to. If so, that really means that it doesn't really exist, but its what everyone refers to, to make their point.

[frenchfriar]

it means it's as difficult as though you were searching for the needle in a haystack, as in the proverb. I have also seen it given as "It's like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack".
It seems to be a self reference to the proverb, within the proverb., to remind us that it IS a proverb, or adage, and not an actual activity.