Question
25 May
- Japanese
-
English (US)
Question about English (US)
Does this sound natural? I want to use the phrase 'tempest in a teapot'
I don't understand why people are arguing about such a trivial matter as if it's a big issue. It's so-called 'a tempest in a teapot', isn't it?
Does this sound natural? I want to use the phrase 'tempest in a teapot'
I don't understand why people are arguing about such a trivial matter as if it's a big issue. It's so-called 'a tempest in a teapot', isn't it?
I don't understand why people are arguing about such a trivial matter as if it's a big issue. It's so-called 'a tempest in a teapot', isn't it?
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- English (US)
I want to use the phrase 'tempest in a teapot'
I don’t understand why people argue about such a trivial matter as if it were a big problem. It’s called a 'tempest in a teapot', isn’t it?
Highly-rated answerer
- Japanese
- English (US)
@fukutaka That is an extremely old and rarely used phrase. People are more likely to understand if you say they're (or someone is) "making a mountain out of a molehill". If you are doing a formal writing then the teapot phrase may be okay. In conversation, the molehill phrase is more common, and extremely informally: "they're making something out of nothing," is fairly common as well.
- Japanese
Thank you so much. The two phrases you suggested were new to me. Good to know.
- English (US)
@fukutaka After re-reading my reply, I wasn't sure I was clear that the LAST one is the informal one. And depending on your level, you probably already know this, but among friends, I think you're most likely to hear "I don't know why they're making such a big deal out of it," and it will be understood that it's because it's something that seems trivial.
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