🗓️ Idiom: A Drop in the Ocean
💬 Meaning
- A very small amount compared to what is needed or expected.
- Something that seems helpful but is not enough to make a big difference on its own.
🧠 Example Sentences
- Donating $100 may feel like a drop in the ocean, but every bit helps.
- Planting a few trees is a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of climate change.
- The company’s small donation was just a drop in the ocean, but it was a good start.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom dates back to the 1300s and originally appeared in religious texts. It compares a small action or amount (a drop) to something massive (an ocean), showing how little impact it seems to have by itself.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
Our efforts to reduce plastic use felt like ________, but we kept going.
Answer
a drop in the ocean
2. Multiple choice:
What does “a drop in the ocean” mean?
a) A helpful amount
b) A very large amount
c) A very small and possibly ineffective amount
Answer
c) A very small and possibly ineffective amount
3. Rewrite the sentence:
“Our donation seemed tiny compared to the total need.”
Answer
Our donation was a drop in the ocean.