small potatoes
Meaning: Something unimportant or trivial.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “A parking fine is small potatoes compared with the repair bill.”
Category: Food & Drink
Origin: Small potatoes are the ones left after the good ones are picked. The phrase is American English from the early 19th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- Spanish: de pitiminí — literally: of pitiminí (a tiny-flowered rose)
More idioms — Food & Drink
- not for all the tea in China — Under no circumstances.
- a hard nut to crack — A difficult problem, or a person who is hard to deal with.
- have a finger in every pie — To be involved in many different things at once.
- packed like sardines — Crowded very tightly together.
- cherry-pick — To choose only the best or most convenient items.
- on a silver platter — Given to someone without any effort on their part.
More English idioms
- a dog's breakfast — A complete mess.
- not a peep — Not a sound, or not a word from someone.
- bail someone out — To rescue someone from trouble, especially by paying.
- a double-edged sword — Something with both good and bad consequences.
- blow the lid off — To expose a scandal or secret.
- be ahead of the game — To be in a better position than one's rivals.
From our tongue twisters
- The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick. — Believed by Guinness to be among the hardest in English — 'six/sick/sheikh/sheep' blur in…
- Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter. — A 'b / t / tt' plosive drill that bounces between Betty, butter, and bitter.
- She sells seashells by the seashore. — The definitive 's' versus 'sh' alternation — the tongue has to switch place of articulati…