「茶杯裡的風波」是否出自英文諺語?原句是甚麼?

是, 「茶杯裡的風波」是出自英文諺語"storm in a teacup".

「茶杯裡的風波」
Storm in a teacup.

「條條大路通羅馬」
All roads lead to Rome.


1) Rome Antics is an episode of the British comedy television series 'The Goodies'.

... A Roman soldier arrives at their house on 'foot', and the Goodies hide from him. The soldier, however, turns out to be a messager, and he comments that the Emperor wants the Goodies to go to Rome. The Goodies attempt to ride to Rome on their wooden tandem, but they have trouble with the tandem so they travel to Rome on feet, instead. When they come to a cross-road, with three roads diverging from the one they are on, they are undecided as to which road they should take. However, there is a signpost with the word "Rome" pointing to each of the three roads. Also, the Goodies have a map with the words "All roads lead to Rome", so they decide to take different routes from each other — finally ending up at exactly the same spot as each other, at exactly the same time. ...

在一套英國電視連續劇中, ... 據說, 羅馬皇帝派遣使者到小村落, 叫幾位老婦到皇宮面見他, 但老婦害怕坐馬車, 於是選擇步行前住皇宮。當途經一個分义路時不知去向, 看到一個寫著「往羅馬」的路牌, 同樣指向三條不同的路。由於她們手上的地圖, 上面都寫著「所有的路都通住羅馬」, 所以她們各自選擇不同的路線上路, 結果在同一時間, 在同一地點滙合。 自此, 當要形容選擇不同的方法, 最終都可以成功的, 就會話「條條大路通羅馬」。

2) Storm in a teacup/ Tempest in a teapot

Tempest in a teapot (in American English), or storm in a teacup (in British English), is an idiom used commonly in English meaning a small event that has been exaggerated out of proportion. There are also lesser known variants, such as storm in a cream bowl and storm in a wash-hand basin.
The phrase is at least a century and a half old, as evidenced in the January 1838 edition of the defunct The United States Democratic Review, in an article regarding the Supreme Court. To quote: "This collegiate tempest in a teapot might serve for the lads of the University to moot; but, surely, was unworthy the solemn adjudication attempted for it.

「茶杯裡的風波」係形容有些人將小事誇大。 這番話早在1838年一本書名為「美國民主回顧」中就引述過。另外兩個較少人用的說法, 就係storm in a cream bowl 或者 storm in a wash-hand basin。

2008-06-26 06:42:19 補充：
所以兩句說話都係來自英文成語。