A FLEA IN ONE’S EAR

I was reminded of this phrase while reading Robert Dinsdale’s novel, The Toymakers [1]: “I had to send him away with a flea in his ear.” – highly recommended!

 Other examples:

 “Water company officials were sent away with a flea in their ear after they ignored advice to consult people about plans for a £2m sewage pumping station under a play park.”

 “Benetton headed in at half-time with a 10–5 lead, while the Saints players were about to get a flea in the ear from the coaching staff.”

 “But she left court to return to her children with a flea in her ear after Judge Stephen Thomas told her: ‘I have had in mind the effect on your children, which is more than you have done.’”

 Photo credit: AJ Cann (Creative Commons)

 [1] Dinsdale, Robert. The Toymakers. Ebury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

THE LAST STRAW

An occurrence that is “the last straw” or “the last straw that broke the camel’s back” is the latest of a series of undesirable/unpleasant occurrences that finally makes a situation intolerable.

 Examples:

 “The four parties then declared that many things had cumulated over the last few months and this issue was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.”

 “The humiliating elimination from the FA Cup by Liverpool’s reserves proved to be the last straw for a posse of Everton fans, who turned up at the club’s training ground this week to give players and staff some forthright feedback.”

 “The business said that Havering Council hiking up parking charges last year ‘was the last straw’.”


 This phrase is believed to originate from a mid-seventeenth-century proverb meaning that even a minor problem can overwhelm someone who is already overburdened. [1]


 Photo credit: Todd Fowler (Creative Commons)

 [1] Knowles, Elizabeth. “last” in The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press, 2005.

STUFFED SHIRT

We might describe someone as a “stuffed shirt” if they are excessively formal, pompous or old-fashioned.

 Examples:

 “Instead, Isabel reluctantly marries a stuffed shirt named Wilbur Minafer.”

 “This is the film that made Marlene Dietrich an international star, prancing around in ruffled knickers and bewitching stuffed-shirt professor Emil Jannings.”

 “Did Elizabeth Bennet move into Pemberley and discover that her prejudice and her pride were well founded when Mr. Darcy turned out to be a stuffed shirt with anger-management issues?”


 The phrase apparently originated around 1900 [1] and refers to a dummy in a dress shirt in a menswear store, which appears pompous and is also hollow [2].


 Photo credit: Hemeroteca Digital | Old magazines & newspapers | Portugal’s photostream (Creative Commons)

 [1] “stuffed shirt” in The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, by Christine Ammer. 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, 2013.

 [2] “stuff” in Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by Susie Dent. 19th ed. Chambers Harrap, 2012.