tempest in a teapot

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a tempest in a teapot

A disproportionate reaction of anger, concern, or displeasure over some minor or trivial matter. If you ask me, these protests are nothing but a tempest in a teapot that's been stoked by a media campaign of misinformation. I really think you're making a tempest in a teapot over this. It's just a tiny scratch on the car!

tempest in a teapot

Also, tempest in a teacup. A great disturbance or uproar over a matter of little or no importance. For example, All that because a handful of the thousand invited guests didn't show up? What a tempest in a teapot! This expression has appeared in slightly different forms for more than 300 years. Among the variations are storm in a cream bowl, tempest in a glass of water, and storm in a hand-wash basin. The British prefer storm in a teacup. The current American forms were first recorded in 1854. For a synonym, see much ado about nothing.

tempest in a teapot, a

A storm over a trifle; much ado about nothing. This expression has appeared in slightly varying forms for hundreds of years—a storm in a cream bowl (1678 letter from the duke of Ormond to the earl of Arlington), a tempest in a glass of water (the grand duke Paul of Russia, ca. 1790), a storm in a hand-wash basin (Lord Thurlow, ca. 1830), and, throughout much of the nineteenth century, a storm in a teacup (still preferred in Britain). In the twentieth century it changed to its present form, at least in America.

See also: tempest

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References in periodicals archive ?

Frank Ricci, the director of government affairs for the Rent Stabilization Association (RSA), summed up the controversy as being "between REBNY and those who want licensing." He added that he considered the whole debate "a tempest in a teapot."

No resolution, or compromise in manager licensing debate

Kurt Wright, CFA, and head of debt for Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, noted that while the capital contractions of late 1998 may have ultimately been a "tempest in a teapot," the abrupt reaction of real estate markets demonstrated just "how much debt could influence equity." Wright, who was part of a panel discussion on capital markets headed by Michael Humphreys of Courtland Partners, noted that even with the tremendous fall of CMBS values late in the year, more than $100 billion in real estate loans were made during 1998 and that delinquencies were at their lowest in 20 years.

Capital Comes Back

Responding to user complaints about the cost of Tempest equipment and the sometimes shoddy way they met the NACSIM 5100A specifications, the NSA reduced the number of applications in which Tempest protection was required and established new procedures for certifying that equipment adhered to the standard (see "Tempest in a Teapot?" JED, July 1989, p.

The moment they've been waiting for: reduced Tempest standards have finally been unveiled

It may be a tempest in a teapot (or chaos in a coffeepot), but the apparent association of heavy coffee drinking and the danger of dying from heart disease continues to command attention.

The continuing coffee controversy

Whether it's a tempest in a teapot or the beginning of a virtual headache, the warnings are everywhere about possible building mishaps occurring at the stroke of midnight year 2000 - Nostradamus notwithstanding.