27:
154:
picture of an exploding teapot to
America on the left and Britannia on the right, with British and American forces advancing towards the teapot. Just a little later, in 1825, in the Scottish journal
802:
138:, Prime Minister of Great Britain, is credited for popularizing this phrase as characterizing the outbreak of American colonists against the
123:('a tempest in a glass of water'), to refer to the popular uprising in the Republic of Geneva near the end of the eighteenth century.
317:
117:
of
Timotheus by saying that he had seen a more formidable storm in a boiling saucepan. The phrase also appeared in its French form
665:
773:
The flowers of wit, or, A choice collection of bon mots, both antient and modern, with biographical and critical remarks, Volume 2
739:
Familiar quotations: a collection of passages, phrases, and proverbs traced to their sources in ancient and modern literature
64:
meaning a small event that has been exaggerated out of proportion. There are also lesser known or earlier variants, such as
934:
166:
in 1838. There are several instances though of earlier
British use of the similar phrase "storm in a wash-hand basin".
20:
709:
675:
127:
904:
103:, translated: "For Gratidius raised a tempest in a ladle, as the saying is". Then in the early third century AD,
162:
The first recorded instance of the
British English version, "storm in teacup", occurs in Catherine Sinclair's
724:
Fact, fancy, and fable: a new handbook for ready reference on subjects commonly omitted from cyclopaedias
135:
929:
924:
873:
856:
680:
158:, a critical review of poets Hogg and Campbell also included the phrase "tempest in a teapot".
130:, sometime during his tenure of 1783–1792, is quoted as referring to a popular uprising on the
824:
914:
126:
One of the earliest occurrences in print of the modern version is in 1815, where
Britain's
8:
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909:
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97:, used a similar phrase in Latin, possibly the precursor to the modern expressions,
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Lippincott's
Monthly Magazine: A Popular Journal of General Literature
104:
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469:
139:
88:
340:
61:
113:, has Dorion ridiculing the description of a tempest in the
507:('storm in a glass of water/a tempest in a glass of water')
852:
Modern accomplishments ; or, The march of intellect
505:
tempestade em copo d'água/uma tempestade num copo d'água
613:
443:
215:
383:
100:
Excitabat enim fluctus in simpulo ut dicitur
Gratidius
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527:
482:
200:
174:
A similar phrase exists in numerous other languages:
586:
398:
332:
185:
628:
230:('winds and waves in a teacup; storm in a teapot')
487:('to make a mountain out of hay - or a haystack')
150:(shown above right), where Father Time flashes a
896:
343:: चाय की प्याली में तूफ़ान ('storm in a teacup')
608:
752:"Whence the phrase "a tempest in a teapot"?".
647:
574:
463:
817:
118:
98:
741:. Little, Brown, and company. p. 767.
704:, p. 647, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1997
702:The American Heritage dictionary of idioms
625:
800:
745:
848:
775:. Lackington, Allen, and co. p. 67.
736:
666:American and British English differences
25:
874:"Storm in a wash-hand basin (pre-1938)"
779:
730:
721:
142:. This sentiment was then satirized in
897:
715:
770:
646:('a storm in a glass of water'), or
371:una tempesta in un bicchiere d'acqua
764:
648:
640:
479:
329:
182:
13:
270:('a large storm in a small glass')
169:
134:as a "tempest in a teapot". Also
91:, in the first century BC, in his
21:Storm in a Teacup (disambiguation)
14:
946:
803:"Scotch Poets, Hogg and Campbell"
676:Make a mountain out of a molehill
655:('a tempest in a spoon of water')
618:('a tempest in a glass of water')
472:) ('a storm in a glass of water')
268:granda frakaso en malgranda glaso
722:Reddall, Henry Frederic (1892).
866:
557:('a storm in a glass of water')
555:una tormenta en un vaso de agua
497:('a storm in a glass of water')
413:('to stir up waves in a ladle')
373:('a storm in a glass of water')
363:('a storm in a glass of water')
353:('a storm in a glass of water')
310:('a storm in a glass of water')
308:une tempête dans un verre d'eau
260:('a storm in a glass of water')
250:('a storm in a glass of water')
240:('a storm in a glass of water')
120:une tempête dans un verre d'eau
842:
807:Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine
794:
694:
641:אַ שטורעם אין אַ גלאָז וואַסער
156:Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine
1:
687:
579:('storm in a spoon of water')
567:('storm in a glass of water')
547:('storm in a glass of water')
532:('storm in a glass of water')
517:('storm in a glass of water')
423:('storm in a glass of water')
322:('storm in a glass of water')
300:('storm in a glass of water')
280:('storm in a glass of water')
220:('storm in a glass of water')
849:Sinclair, Catherine (1836).
649:אַ בורע אין אַ לעפֿל וואַסער
515:furtună într-un pahar cu apă
83:
7:
935:Frederick North, Lord North
855:. Waugh and Innes. p.
801:Blackwood, William (1825).
726:. A.C McClurg. p. 490.
659:
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587:
543:
528:
483:
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441:ചായക്കോപ്പയിലെ കൊടുങ്കാറ്റ്
411:excitare fluctus in simpulo
399:
384:
333:
258:een storm in een glas water
216:
201:
186:
70:tempest in a glass of water
10:
951:
630:chaye ki pyali main toofan
445:chaya koppayile kodunkattu
74:storm in a wash-hand basin
18:
786:"A Tempest in a Teapot".
644:a shturem in a gloz vaser
609:
598:
539:
524:
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403:('a typhoon in a teacup')
395:
380:
227:
212:
197:
78:storm in a glass of water
905:English-language idioms
737:Bartlett, John (1891).
626:چائے کی پیالی میں طوفان
599:தேநீர் கோப்பையில் புயல்
385:koppu no naka no arashi
290:('typhoon in a teacup')
287:
248:en storm i et glas vand
128:Lord Chancellor Thurlow
37:, with exploding teapot
683:gives birth to a mouse
681:The Mountain in Labour
653:a bure in a lefl vaser
615:buria v sklyantsi vody
601:('storm in a tea cup')
591:('storm in a tea cup')
576:bir kaşık suda fırtına
575:
565:storm i ett vattenglas
564:
554:
514:
504:
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464:
455:
448:('storm in a tea cup')
430:
420:
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400:chat jan sokui taepung
388:('a storm in a glass')
370:
360:
351:vihar egy pohár vízben
350:
307:
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277:
267:
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238:bouře ve sklenici vody
237:
164:Modern Accomplishments
146:1778 engraving of the
119:
99:
48:), or also phrased as
38:
16:American English idiom
825:"Tempest in a teapot"
633:('storm in a teacup')
588:tea kappu lo thufaanu
495:burza w szklance wody
337:('storm in a teacup')
205:('storm in a teacup')
66:storm in a cream bowl
29:
771:Kett, Henry (1814).
529:burya v stakane vody
465:storm i eit vassglas
456:storm i et vannglass
433:('storm in a glass')
361:stormur í vatnsglasi
190:('a storm in a cup')
19:For other uses, see
878:Google Books search
790:: 8. July 10, 1907.
610:Буря в склянці води
525:Буря в стакане воды
484:az kah kouh sakhtan
319:Sturm im Wasserglas
217:burya v chasha voda
58:tempest in a teacup
42:Tempest in a teapot
861:storm in a teacup.
298:myrsky vesilasissa
39:
829:The Phrase Finder
700:Christine Ammer,
421:vētra ūdens glāzē
334:se'arah bekos teh
202:cha-er cup-e jhor
187:zawba'a fi finjan
144:Carl Guttenberg's
50:storm in a teacup
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925:1810s neologisms
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540:Бура у чаши воде
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480:از کاه کوه ساختن
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278:torm veeklaasis
198:চায়ের কাপে ঝড়
172:
170:Other languages
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148:Tea-Tax Tempest
110:Deipnosophistae
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54:British English
35:Tea-Tax Tempest
31:Carl Guttenberg
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183:زوبعة في فنجان
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881:. Retrieved
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132:Isle of Man
899:Categories
688:References
501:Portuguese
427:Lithuanian
140:tax on tea
136:Lord North
94:De Legibus
910:Metaphors
883:7 January
834:7 January
605:Ukrainian
452:Norwegian
437:Malayalam
357:Icelandic
347:Hungarian
264:Esperanto
209:Bulgarian
107:, in the
105:Athenaeus
84:Etymology
671:Brouhaha
660:See also
511:Romanian
377:Japanese
284:Filipino
274:Estonian
115:Nautilus
60:, is an
33:'s 1778
637:Yiddish
571:Turkish
561:Swedish
551:Spanish
536:Serbian
521:Russian
476:Persian
470:Nynorsk
417:Latvian
396:찻잔속의 태풍
381:コップの中の嵐
367:Italian
294:Finnish
224:Chinese
194:Bengali
920:Idioms
813:: 112.
708:
583:Telugu
491:Polish
460:Bokmål
392:Korean
326:Hebrew
314:German
304:French
244:Danish
226::
179:Arabic
89:Cicero
76:, and
56:), or
595:Tamil
407:Latin
341:Hindi
254:Dutch
234:Czech
62:idiom
885:2012
836:2012
706:ISBN
622:Urdu
857:204
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