knee-high to a grasshopper

Idioms  

1. Quite 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.

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Example Sentences

I reckon, Mr. Hamlin, that they know everything you ever did since you were knee-high to a grasshopper, and a good deal more than you ever thought of doin'.

From Trent's Trust, and Other Stories by Harte, Bret

Now I warn't never inside a schoolhouse in my life, but I've known from the time I was knee-high to a grasshopper how to make maple-sugar.

From The Story of Sugar by Bassett, Sara Ware

I love you—always have since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.

From Mavericks by Raine, William MacLeod

Whistler discoursed wittily, waspishly, but he wasn't knee-high to a grasshopper when confronted with Wilde.

From Unicorns by Huneker, James

I’ve loved you ever since you was knee-high to a grasshopper.

From The Arena Volume 4, No. 23, October, 1891 by Flower, B. O. (Benjamin Orange)