tempest in a teapot
3
7.9
- idiom
- Informal
:
tormenta en un vaso de agua
- The discussion about the new policy changes was just a tempest in a teapot.
- tempest in a teapot," he said
Examples
-
Is this a widespread problem or is this a tempest in a teapot?
Blog text (18) -
As far as I'm concerned, the whole matter is a tempest in a teapot.
Blog text (3) -
The whole thing was a tempest in a teapot.
-
It's a tempest in a teapot.
-
A tempest in a teapot.
-
I believe that the "historical issue" is a historical tempest in a teapot.
Blog text (7) -
Talk about a tempest in a teapot!
Fiction book (1991) -
I think this is a tempest in a teapot!
Blog text (25) -
What a tempest in a teapot.
Blog text (6) -
The short-lived 'controversy' between Hitchcock and Murchison, in retrospect, was little more than a 'tempest in a teapot.'
Academic text (2018)
Synonyms
27
4.2
A noisy argument about something unimportant
8
8.8
A small noisy fuss when people disagree
1
3.0
A small disagreement about something unimportant
An unnecessary fuss or worry about a small problem
A lot of fuss about something small
A small noisy fuss about something unimportant
A silly, small argument that people make much bigger
An unimportant event that people do not take seriously
Antonyms
How Serious
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components map directly onto the idiom: 'tempest' (a storm/uproar) placed 'in a teapot' (a very small container) yields the sense of a large commotion confined to something trivial. This metaphorical image is close to common cross-linguistic patterns (e.g. 'storm in a teacup') and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Tempest in a teapot may come from the picture of a great storm, a tempest, happening inside a very small teapot. That strange image shows a big reaction in a tiny place, so the phrase means 'an unnecessary fuss about a small matter'.