Meaning:
Unimportant, insignificant
Examples:
- Such roles are small beer compared with the fame she once enjoyed.
- The confusion that we are building into the system could make the little local difficulty that we had in the referendum seem small beer indeed.
- A company of that size is small beer.
- Professional men do not want to be troubled unnecessarily with the small beer or trivia of taxation matters.
- This would bring about a de facto prohibition that will make drug prohibition seem like small beer.
- I was chairman many years ago and am still a vice-president, though of course that is very small beer compared with a president.
- One unit is roughly equivalent to a glass of wine or a small beer.