tempest in a teapot

Attested since 1838. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

tempest in a teapot (plural tempests in teapots)

1. (idiomatic) A major fuss over a trivial matter.

   The media frenzy over the actor's drunken behavior was a tempest in a teapot.

• This is by far the most common of the various forms of the idiom in the US, and the most common form overall.

• much ado about nothing
• storm in a teacup (British), and its variants storm in a tea-kettle and storm in a teapot
• tempest in a teacup, tempest in a tea-kettle

• make a mountain out of a molehill

• tempest in a teacup in the Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
• "storm in a teacup," Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster (2002).