Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2022 February 21

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February 21

Deaf as a door-post

I had a great aunt who always used to say "deaf as a door-mouse", which I assumed was a Malapropism for "deaf as a door-post". But where does this expression come from? Is to connected to "dead as a doornail"? 205.239.40.3 (talk) 10:22, 21 February 2022 (UTC)

Dictionary of Proverbs p. 134 has deaf as a door (1599) or deaf as a door-nail (1572) as well as deaf as a post (1575). The "door-post" simile must be a conflation of two of those. The same source also offers "deaf as a beetle" (1867), "deaf as a haddock" (1882) and "deaf as an adder" (1605 - adders had been believed to be deaf since antiquity). There's also the well-known "stone-deaf".

Dead as a door-nail is dated to c. 1350, so you may be right about a connection, but I couldn't find anything to confirm it.

Similes often seek assonance; for example, "plain as a pike-staff" or "good as gold", which may explain the connection between deafness and doors, but that's just my guess. Alansplodge (talk) 13:04, 21 February 2022 (UTC)

And the other phrase is "Silent as a dormouse" (note spelling). You can find usages of the phrase from 1850 and 1841. It still has some usage in the 21st century, 2013 for example. I'm not entirely sure why dormice are particularly known for being quiet, but apparently they are. --Jayron32 14:09, 21 February 2022 (UTC)

Maybe because they don't talk in their sleep? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.193.130.191 (talk) 14:27, 21 February 2022 (UTC)

Yes, Gliridae "exhibit semi-hibernation in winter", so that's dor- as in dor-mant, not door as in hinged moveable barrier. I guess Lewis Carroll's The Dormouse may have appeared deaf as he was always falling asleep. Martinevans123 (talk) 14:28, 21 February 2022 (UTC)

That article does link to silent dormouse. So maybe that one's deaf. :) Martinevans123 (talk) 14:49, 21 February 2022 (UTC) p.s. not only do mice dream, but they are also prone to manipulation.

Of note, the pronunciation of "dormio" is similar to "door-nail". Per https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dormio#Latin "dormio" is a Latin verb meaning "I sleep" and has had many descendants since. -Modocc (talk) 13:40, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

Yes, many descendants. They breed like mice. Martinevans123 (talk) 13:42, 28 February 2022 (UTC)