The idiom “a drop in the ocean” means something is insignificant compared to what is needed. It originated from the Bible and evolved from “a drop in the bucket.” It is used in Britain and the US, and shares its origins with other common English phrases.
The idiom “a drop in the ocean” means that what is offered or given is so small compared to what is needed that it lacks meaning. The phrase can also mean that what is being described is very small or insignificant compared to the whole. Can be used to refer to an action taken to fix a problem that is insignificant compared to what needs to be done to fix the problem.
The phrase has its origins in the Old Testament of the Bible. At Isaiah 40:15 in the King James Version of the Bible, the Scripture states: “Look! The nations are as a drop in a bucket and are numbered as the fine dust in the scales.” The New International Version of the Bible translates Isaiah 40:15 as: “Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered dust in the balance; weigh the islands as if they were dust”. This Bible verse is believed to be the origin of the phrase a drop in the bucket.
A drop in the bucket, still an idiom used in common English, is probably the origin of the phrase a drop in the ocean. Speakers are thought to have changed the phrase over time to describe something as even more insignificant. As the King James Version of the Bible became well read, a drop in the ocean entered the common parlance. The evolution of the phrase into a drop in the ocean is believed to have occurred in the 17th century. The first known written reference of the actual phrase a drop in the ocean was printed in a weekly paper in the 17th in Edinburgh, Scotland.
An idiom used mostly in Britain, a drop in the ocean is used in English in other countries, including the United States. The phrase a drop in the bucket is still the most commonly used idiom to express meaninglessness in the U.S. A drop in the ocean shares its Biblical origins with many phrases still commonly used in the English language. Among these are “my brother’s keeper” and “eat, drink and be merry”. Most of these phrases, or their adaptations from the original scriptures, probably entered common parlance after the publication of the King James Version of the Bible in 1611.
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