tempest in a teapot

English

Etymology

Attested since 1838. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Noun

tempest in a teapot (plural tempests in teapots)

1. (idiomatic) A major fuss over a trivial matter.

   The media frenzy over the actor's drunken behavior was a tempest in a teapot.

Usage notes

• This is by far the most common of the various forms of the idiom in the US, and the most common form overall.

Synonyms

• much ado about nothing
• storm in a teacup (British), and its variants storm in a tea-kettle, storm in a glass of water, and storm in a teapot
• tempest in a teacup, tempest in a tea-kettle

Translations

big fuss made in a small context

• Arabic:

  South Levantine Arabic: زوبعة في فنجان (zōbaʕa fi finjān, literally “storm in a cup”)

• Bengali: চায়ের কাপে ঝড় (caẏer kape jhoṛ)
• Catalan: tempesta en un vas d'aigua (literally "storm in a glass of water")
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 小題大做／小题大做 (zh) (xiǎotídàzuò)

• Czech: bouře ve sklenici vody (cs) f
• Danish: storm i et glas vand c (literally “storm in a glass of water”)
• Dutch: storm in een glas water m
• Estonian: torm veeklaasis (literally “storm in a glass of water”)
• Finnish: myrsky vesilasissa
• French: tempête dans un verre d’eau (fr) f (literally “storm in a glass of water”)
• German: Sturm im Wasserglas (de) m (literally “storm in a water glass”)
• Hungarian: vihar egy pohár vízben (hu) (literally “storm in a glass of water”)
• Icelandic: veður út af engu, ys og þys út af engu
• Italian: tempesta in un bicchiere d'acqua (literally “storm in a glass of water”)
• Japanese: コップの中の嵐 (koppu no naka no arashi)
• Korean: 찻잔 속의 폭풍 (chatjan sogui pokpung)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: storm i et vannglass (literally “storm in a glass of water”)

  Nynorsk: storm i eit vassglas (literally “storm in a glass of water”)

• Polish: burza w szklance wody (pl) f
• Portuguese: tempestade em copo d’água (pt) f (literally “storm in a glass of water”)
• Romanian: furtună într-un pahar de apă, furtună-n pahar de apă (literally “storm in a glass of water”)
• Russian: бу́ря в стака́не воды́ (ru) f (búrja v stakáne vodý, literally “storm in a glass of water”)
• Spanish: tormenta en un vaso de agua (literally “storm in a glass of water”)
• Swedish: storm i ett vattenglas (sv) (literally “storm in a water glass”)
• Telugu: టీకప్పులో తుపాను (ṭīkappulō tupānu)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: incir çekirdeğini doldurmaz (literally “does not fill a fig seed”)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Yiddish: אַ שטורעם אין אַ גלאָז וואַסער (a shturem in a gloz vaser)

See also

• lightning in a bottle
• make a mountain out of a molehill
• shitstorm

 

References

• tempest in a teacup in the Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
• "storm in a teacup," Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster (2002).