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playfulotter -> RE: If someone makes a big deal over a small issue the commotion is said to be a (9/9/2011 5:45:22 PM)
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Tempest in a teapot...
But this seems to be the American English way to say it..I just read this on Wikipedia
storm in a teacup (in British English), Tempest in a teapot (in American English) is an idiom meaning a small event that has been exaggerated out of proportion.[1] There are also lesser known variants, such as storm in a cream bowl, storm in a hand-wash basin, tempest in a glass of water,[2] and storm in a glass of water.
The American English version of the phrase first appeared in print in the January 1838 edition of the defunct The United States Democratic Review regarding the Supreme Court. "This collegiate tempest in a teapot might serve for the lads of the University to moot; but, surely, was unworthy the solemn adjudication attempted for it."[3] The usage of the British English storm in a teacup is the original and more widely used version and predates this with variations dating back over three hundred years.[4]
Both the American and British phrases are long preceded by Cicero's Latin "Excitabat enim fluctus in simpulo".[5] The phrase, translated literally, reads: "He was stirring up waves in a ladle".
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