Tempest in a teapot/cup/kettle Was: Nice and Interesting

[Carol]

New Steve wrote:
> 
> The saying is "a tempest in a tea pot". As for the use of "ain't"
you would be better off substituting "isn't".

Carol responds:
As Geoff has already indicated, he was just joking with his use of
"ain't." No one on this list would seriously use that word, but we
might say "Ain't life grand?" or some such thing just being silly or
casual among friends.

But I'm a bit confused. Aren't you the one who said that the
expression is "tempest in a tea kettle"? That's how this interesting
little discussion got started. And, as I noted in a previous post, the
saying has a number of variants, none of which is technically "right"
(though "tempest in a teapot" seems to have preceded the other English
versions).

Carol, who doesn't own a teapot and uses her tea kettle to heat water
for hot chocolate