small beer/small potatoes Something trivial or unimportant. Literally, “small beer” is the British name for beer of low alcohol content, today more often called “light beer.” As a metaphor it was already being used in Shakespeare's time, and Shakespeare himself used it in several plays (Henry IV, Part 2; Othello).
What does it mean when someone says small potatoes?
Definition of small potatoes US, informal. : someone or something that is not important or impressive Last week's storm was small potatoes compared to the blizzard we had two years ago.
Is small potatoes an idiom?
Small potatoes is an idiom that has been in use for quite some time. An idiom is a word, group of words or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is not easily deduced from its literal definition.
What is the origin of the phrase small potatoes?
Etymology. A specialization of a sense of potato meaning a thing of little value, and a comment on the low value of a small potato in particular, appearing in its modern form in North America in the mid-19th century (see 1855 quotation).
What is the idiom for potato?
all that meat and no potatoes. couch potato. drop (someone or something) like a hot potato. drop like a hot potato. drop like a hot potato, to.
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