a storm in a tea-cup

storm和tea-cup似乎是两个很难联系起来的概念。Storm是发生在广阔的天空中的自然现象，tea-cup只是一个小小的容器。在这样一个小巧的器皿里何以能起得了大风暴的呢？如果谁说他看见茶杯里起风暴的话，他看见的大概只是茶匙搅起的一个小漩涡吧!可以想见，所谓a storm in a tea-cup就是把一件小事不恰当地加以夸大，也就是“小题大做”：

What the baby has is only a slight stomach disorder, but his parents are stirring up a storm in a tea-cup by taking him to the best hospital to consult the best pediatrician.
那小毛头只不过是肠胃稍有不适而已，但他的爸妈却小题大做，把全带到最好的医院去看最好的儿科医生。

The students regard all the measures taken by the school authorities to prevent cheating during exams as nothing but a storm in a tea-cup.
学生认为校方为防止考试时作弊所采取的措施是小题大做。

have it out with

人与人之间常常会有一些争端或分歧，要解决这些争端或分歧可以通过心平气和的磋商，当然也不乏喜欢拔出拳头来解决问题的人。不论用什么方式来解决和别人的争执，都可以用have it out with somebody这个成语。其中的代词it是一种固定的习惯用法，它不明确地代替某一个名词，也不能用别的什么词来取代它，这一点是要牢记的：

Going back home with a few bruises on his face from a fight with David, Jack was determined to have it out with him some day.
和戴维打架后，杰克脸上伤痕累累地回家时，他下定决心，总有一天要和戴维算账。

The class are divided on the matter so they decided to have it out in a free discussion.
对于这个问题，班级里的看法有分歧，他们决定进行一次自由讨论来解决。

The customer felt being cheated and he asked to see the manager to have it out with him.
那位顾客感到受骗了，他要求见经理，跟他讲理。