It is often a mistake to equate word count with depth of feeling.
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Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Tempest. Teacup.
This isn't strictly SL-related, but it seems like every time any new SL controversy comes along, someone gets it wrong.
The phrase is "a tempest in a teacup." Not "a storm in a water glass," or a "hurricane in a coffee mug," or even "a tropical depression in a champagne flute." It's "tempest in a teacup." It's alliterative. Tempest. Teacup. Sometimes, it's "teapot." I can live with that, although it's definitely not the more common usage.
"Oh," I can hear you say. "Oh, but Mori, I've heard/read it as 'a [storm synonym] in a [drinking vessel]!'" Well then you've heard it wrong!. Tempest. Teacup. That is the phrase.
Tempest. Teacup. So sayeth Mori.
Just had to get that off my chest. Thank you.
Posted by Moriash Moreau at 11:53 AM
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I think that's internationalization. In Dutch, the phrase is (translated) "storm in a glass of water", so I'm sure people just literally translate how they know it, rather than ding a little Googley research :P
Nope.
It's just wrong.
WRONG, I SAY!!!
(I don't really care overmuch. This post was an attempt at facetious irony.)
It's just wrong.
WRONG, I SAY!!!
(I don't really care overmuch. This post was an attempt at facetious irony.)
You're right, though.
TEMPEST IN A TEA POT - "This saying for 'making a big fuss over a trifle,' was first a 'a tempest in a teacup.' It has been traced back only to 1857, but is probably older. Similar early English sayings were 'storm in a wash basin' and 'a storm in a cream bowl' (1678). For that matter Cicero, as far back as 400 B.C., referred to a contemporary who 'stirred up waves in a wine ladle,' and he indicated that the expression was ancient." "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).
I still think the alliterative "tempest in a teacup" is the best phrasing, though. The other options just sound clumsy and wrong.
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TEMPEST IN A TEA POT - "This saying for 'making a big fuss over a trifle,' was first a 'a tempest in a teacup.' It has been traced back only to 1857, but is probably older. Similar early English sayings were 'storm in a wash basin' and 'a storm in a cream bowl' (1678). For that matter Cicero, as far back as 400 B.C., referred to a contemporary who 'stirred up waves in a wine ladle,' and he indicated that the expression was ancient." "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).
I still think the alliterative "tempest in a teacup" is the best phrasing, though. The other options just sound clumsy and wrong.
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