Idiom
price of tea in China
Meaning
Something that is relevant or important, usually used to emphasize that another, compared thing is irrelevant, unimportant, or non sequitur, or that someone unaware of it is ignorant, etc.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“That fact has nothing to do with the price of tea in China.”
“His excuse for being late matters as much as the price of tea in China.”
“I do not care about your favorite color, as it has nothing to do with the price of tea in China.”
“Your opinion on the office decor is about as important as the price of tea in China when we are facing a major budget deficit.”
“The politician rambled about his childhood, which had absolutely nothing to do with the price of tea in China regarding the current economic crisis.”
Examples
simple
“That fact has nothing to do with the price of tea in China.”
“His excuse for being late matters as much as the price of tea in China.”
contextual
“I do not care about your favorite color, as it has nothing to do with the price of tea in China.”
“Your opinion on the office decor is about as important as the price of tea in China when we are facing a major budget deficit.”
complex
“The politician rambled about his childhood, which had absolutely nothing to do with the price of tea in China regarding the current economic crisis.”
Origin
The term finds its origins in England during the 19th century, when the cost of tea in China was a subject of genuine economic and administrative concern. The phrase was frequently recorded in the proceedings of the House of Commons, where the commodity's valuation served as a recurring topic of debate before the expression shifted into its current role as a marker of irrelevance.
Key words
Related idioms
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