| 词汇 | knee-high to a grasshopper |
| 释义 | Idiom knee-high to a grasshopper Theme: SHORT not very tall; short and small, as a child. (Folksy.)Hello, Billy. I haven t seen you since you were knee-high to a grasshopper.I have two grandchildren, both knee-high to a grasshopper. Slang knee-high to a grasshopper Theme: SIZE mod. of very short stature. (Folksy.)I knew you when you were knee-high to a grasshopper.I was knee-high to a grasshopper when I first heard that joke. knee-high to a grasshopperYoung. When I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I loved playing with dolls and stuffed animals. Unfortunately, Ed's mother died when he was still knee-high to a grasshopper. knee-high to a grasshopperQuite young, as in I haven't seen him since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. This hyperbolic expression, dating from about 1850 and alluding to someone's youth, replaced the earlier knee-high to a mosquito or bumblebee or splinter. knee-high to a grasshopperOLD-FASHIONEDIf you say that you have done something since you were knee-high to a grasshopper, you mean that you have done it since you were a very young child. I've lived here since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. knee-high to a grasshoppervery small or very young. informal, humorousIn this form the phrase apparently dates from the mid 19th century, but early 19th-century US versions include knee-high to a toad and knee-high to a mosquito . knee-high to a ˈgrasshopper(informal, humorous) (of a child) very small; very young: I haven’t seen you since you were knee-high to a grasshopper!knee-high to a grasshopper mod. of very short stature. (Folksy.) I knew you when you were knee-high to a grasshopper. knee-high to a grasshopperSmall and, usually, quite young. The term, used most often to describe someone’s extreme youth, originated in America about 1850, when it replaced the earlier nineteenth-century hyperboles knee-high to a mosquito, bumble-bee, and splinter. A challenge arose in knee-high to a duck, current from about 1900 to the 1940s, but grasshopper outstripped and survived it, too. knee high to a grasshopperVery young. A grasshopper is tiny, and to stand, metaphorically speaking, no higher than the insect's knee was to be very small or young or both. The expression was usually used by male relatives to point out either a child's youth (“Drive the tractor by yourself?— why, you're not even knee-high to a grasshopper”) or the speaker's experience (“I've driven tractors since I was knee high to a grasshopper”). |
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