small beer

American  

noun

1. weak beer.

2. Chiefly British Slang. matters or persons of little or no importance.

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small beer British  

noun

1. informal people or things of no importance

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small beer Idioms  

1. Also, small potatoes. Of little importance, as in Don't listen to Henry; he's small beer, or It's silly to worry about that bill; it's small potatoes. The first term alludes to a beer of low alcoholic content (also called light beer today) and was used metaphorically by Shakespeare in several plays. The variant may have been invented by frontiersman Davy Crockett; it was first recorded in 1836. Also see small fry, def. 2.

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Etymology

Origin of small beer

First recorded in 1560–70

Example Sentences

"But it's small beer in terms of the overall value of the project they are building and the profit that they will take out of that," he added.

From BBC • Jun. 23, 2023

At the blog Why Evolution is True, biostatistician Gregory Mayer described Farina and Gibbon's findings as "small beer."

From Salon • Feb. 22, 2022

Each night, she drinks a small beer, and says an appendectomy has been her only health issue so far.

From Reuters • May 5, 2021

Chris Wilder insists Jürgen Klopp’s loss of his defensive cornerstone is small beer compared with his task of having to plan without John Fleck, Jack O’Connell and Lys Mousset.

From The Guardian • Oct. 22, 2020

His missus sipped Jenny’s chowder, shuddered at the taste, and reached for her mug of small beer.

From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson