English · Idiom Historical

a little pot is soon hot

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

A small person is quickly "riled." Grumio makes humorous use of the phrase in The Taming of the Shrew (iv, 1).

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “a little pot is soon hot” mean?

A small person is quickly "riled." Grumio makes humorous use of the phrase in The Taming of the Shrew (iv, 1).

Is “a little pot is soon hot” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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