Storm in a teacup

This figurative expression meaning to blow something out of proportion dates in this form from the early 19th century, but the concept itself is a very ancient. Cicero (106-43 BC) wrote 'Excitabat enim fluctus in simpulo' meaning ‘stirring up waves in a ladle’. Tea and teacups did not exist in Roman times, nor in early English days but this did not deter the English from brewing up storms in all sorts of receptacles, from cream bowls to wash hand-basins, before the teacup came along. The Americans have never been fond of tea but since the early 19th century, they have had the expression a ‘tempest in a teapot’, which they still use occasionally.