“A storm in a teacup”in other languages

Same idea, different pictures

The image is old: Cicero spoke of stirring up waves in a ladle. English shrinks the storm to a teacup, and French and Portuguese to a glass of water, une tempête dans un verre d'eau, uma tempestade num copo de água.

French also has une guerre picrocholine, from Rabelais, where King Picrochole goes to war over a quarrel about cakes. Italian argues about goat's wool, questione di lana caprina, a debate the Roman poet Horace already mocked.