dead as a doornail

Английский Язык - Английский Язык

Определение dead as a doornail в Английский Язык Английский Язык словарь

Unquestionably dead. Used for both inanimate objects and once living beings

Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door–nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin–nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country’s done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door–nail.

totally dead

Расстановка переносов

dead as a door·nail

Турецкое произношение

ded äz ı dôrneyl

Произношение

/ˈded ˈaz ə ˈdôrˌnāl/ /ˈdɛd ˈæz ə ˈdɔːrˌneɪl/

Этимология

() Possibly from William Shakespeare's play Henry VI, Act 4, Sc.10, l.40-1 John Cade: "...and if I do not leave you all as dead as a door-nail, I pray God I may never eat grass more.", although there is some evidence that the phrase was in use before this time. One plausible explanation is that doors were built using only wood boards and hand forged nails, the nails were long enough to dead nail the (vertical) wooden panels and (horizontal) stretcher boards securely together, so they would not easily pull apart. This was done by pounding the protruding point of the nail over and down into the wood. A nail that was bent in this fashion (and thus not easily pulled out) was said to be "dead", thus dead as a doornail.