I haven’t done an idiom in some time, so I thought I would return to the fascinating world of idioms on this lazy Monday. Idioms are sayings that make little sense from a practical standpoint, but mean something in common language. Storm in a teacup is not one of the more used idioms, but is common enough that just about anyone who speaks English natively should know it.

Storm in a teacup is the concept that a small matter is taken to extremes and made of exaggerated importance, or as the US Dictionary defines: “Storm in a teacup” means making a big fuss over something trivial. If you think about it, the literal reading of the idiom evokes something absurd, as the mere notion of a storm brewing in a teacup is exaggerated. That’s the whole point of the saying.

The origin of this, and most, idioms is somewhat obscure, but the first reference to it that we have is from Rome back in the first century B.C. The Roman Orator Cicero wrote: “Excitabat enim fluctus in simpulo,” which translates to “stirring up waves in a ladle.” Britain is the most common place where this idiom is in use today, though I have heard it in Canada, and I believe most Americans will understand the saying too. In the US, they also say “tempest in a teapot.”

There are several other idioms that mean the same thing:

• Much ado about nothing
• Mountain out of a molehill
• Splitting hairs
• Blowing things out of proportion

No doubt, there are many more!