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I didn’t look anymore into it than that, because I wanted to jump back into calm before the storm, or calm before the tempest, because OED has it arriving much earlier.ġ595 Robert Parry in Moderatus, which I saw described as an “Elizabethan romance” x. A tempest in a tea-pot, or a storm in a tea cup, both have their first attestations, according to the OED, in 1854. Means OED: a great commotion in a circumscribed circle, or about a matter of small or only local importance. This would be its use in the phrase tempest in a tea-pot, or storm in a tea-cup

OED Tempest: A violent commotion or disturbance a tumult, rush agitation, perturbation. But interestingly, in the 1300s tempest also seems to have taken on a figurative definition:

And we’ve seen it used in Old English since at least the 1200s to mean the storm. It comes from the Latin word for time, which was modified slightly to then mean seasons. OED - Tempest: A violent storm of wind, usually accompanied by a downfall of rain, hail, or snow, or by thunder.

Any thoughts?Ĭalm before the storm ( also tempest) and variants: a period of tranquillity or stability viewed as a precursor to a time of difficulty, upheaval, frenzied activity, etc. But it also noted this phrase started with a different word than “storm”. The OEDs definition included more flowery language that said basically the same thing. I think the Cambridge Dictionary has the most accessible definition, so I’ll use it:Ī quiet or peaceful period before a period during which there is great activity, argument, or difficulty So I thought we’d look into that phrase for this week. And then I realized that what we are describing in that situation, without using the phrase, is the idiom “the calm before the storm”.

I was thinking about this the other day because it came up in casual conversation… and I have a habit of saying “too quiet” whenever someone says “it’s quiet for some reason”. Too quiet.” which always seems to come just before things just get wildly out of hand in the movie? Shauna, do you know the phrase in many movies where somebody says something to the effect of “It’s quiet. Welcome to Bunny Trails, a whimsical adventure of idioms and other turns of phrase.Įvery week, we take an idiom, or other turn of phrase, and try to tell the story from it’s entry into the English language, to how it’s used today. Click on "Read More" to view the full show notes.