Batrachomyomachia. It literally means ‘the battle of frogs and mice’ and is the title of a comic epic describing a one day war between, appropriately enough, frogs (led by Puff Jaw) and mice (Bread Nibbler, Slice Stealer, et al.) with a bit appearances by Zeus. Batrachomyomachia is now used – when it’s used at all – to describe a stupid dust up – all the civilization-threatening conflicts that when viewed with a little perspective (like two inches away) reveal themselves to be nothing more than a piss-hole in a snowbank.

The German language version – Froschmausekrieg – was used “by Helen Dukas (Einstein’s secretary and literary executor) to describe the long and bitter dispute between the School of Math and the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study.”*

Either version is good to keep in mind when you are considering going to the mattresses over the thermostat setting in the office…