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What does it mean to call someone a church mouse?
Having little or no wealth and few possessions, as in She’s poor as a churchmouse, so you can’t expect her to donate anything.
What does the expression as quiet as a mouse mean?
Silent, without noise
Definition of quiet as a mouse Silent, without noise, as in She sneaked into the house, quiet as a mouse, or When he heard the news he was still as a mouse. The first of these similes dates from the mid-1500s, the second from the 1300s.
Is there such a thing as a church mouse?
Literally denoting a mouse which lives in a church, the noun church mouse has long been used figuratively and allusively of a person likened to such a mouse, in terms of its proverbial attributes, especially in being impoverished or quiet.
What is the similes of church mouse?
poor as a churchmouse Singularly impecunious. This simile dates from the seventeenth century and its original analogy has been lost. Most authorities speculate that since a church usually has no place for food storage, such as a mouse might invade, mice would fare very poorly in churches.
What is a church mouse Wikipedia?
The Church Mice series is a series of children’s picture books written by English writer Graham Oakley. The books focus on the adventures of a group of church mice who live in an old gothic church in the fictional town of Wortlethorpe, England, and their guardian, Sampson the cat.
What is the meaning of the phrase as light as a feather?
Extremely lightweight
Extremely lightweight. This simile can be used to refer either to physical weight, as in This load is light as a feather, or to texture, as in This cake is light as a feather. [ Mid-1500s]
What is the simile of as poor as church as a?
old-fashioned. (also be as poor as church mice) to be very poor: They’ll take one look at my clothes and know I’m as poor as a church mouse.
Who wrote church mouse?
writer Graham Oakley
The Church Mice series is a series of children’s picture books written by English writer Graham Oakley.
What is the similes of quiet?
Quiet as a mouse. Quiet as a stone. Quiet as a nest of monasteries. Quiet as a heart that beats no more.
What does pale as a ghost mean?
Exceptionally pale, as owing to nausea or fear. I get terrible motion sickness, so I’m sure I was as pale as a ghost when I stumbled off the plane. She was pale as a ghost after that car nearly ran into her on the sidewalk. Wow, you look pale as a ghost.
Where did the saying poor as church mice come from?
Alteration of earlier hungry as a church mouse, from the fact that Catholic and Orthodox priests are called to scrupulously prevent any crumb of the sacrament of Eucharist (the bread which is understood to be Christ’s body) from falling on the altar or to the ground, meaning that church mice had no crumbs to feed on.
Is it poor as a church mouse?
If someone is as poor as a church mouse they are extremely poor. An other similar phrase is hungry as a church mouse. The phrase is derived from the fact that church buildings don’t store or provide food and therefore mice in such buildings were utterly destitute.
What are some similes to explain quiet?
What does quiet as the grave mean?
Saying absolutely nothing
silent as the grave (not comparable) (idiomatic, simile) Saying absolutely nothing (especially about a particular subject).
What does white as snow mean?
Meaning: If something or someone is as white as snow, they are perfect or completely uncorrupted and honest.
What is the origin of the idiom quiet as a mouse?
Silent, without noise, as in She sneaked into the house, quiet as a mouse, or When he heard the news he was still as a mouse. The first of these similes dates from the mid-1500s, the second from the 1300s. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
What does it mean to be like a mouse in church?
The meaning of this idiom is that something, or someone, is so quiet that they’re like a mouse in a church. Churches are generally stereotyped as being very solemn and silent. This phrase implies someone’s level of silence compares to the silent nature of churches.
When he heard the news he was still as a mouse?
This town is quiet as the grave now that the factories have closed. Also, still as a mouse. Silent, without noise, as in She sneaked into the house, quiet as a mouse, or When he heard the news he was still as a mouse. The first of these similes dates from the mid-1500s, the second from the 1300s.
Where does the phrase as poor as a church mouse come from?
origin of the phrase ‘as poor as a church mouse’. Robert Thompson, the Kilburn craftsman, invariably carved a little mouse on his work. The phrase as poor as a church mouse means extremely poor. It is first recorded in The royalist a comedy (1682), by the English author Thomas D’Urfey (1653-1723):