deaf as a post

1. Also, deaf as an adder. Unable to hear or to listen, as in Speak louder, Grandpa's deaf as a post. The first simile has its origin in John Palsgrave's Acolastus (1540): “How deaf an ear I intended to give him ... he were as good to tell his tale to a post.” It has largely replaced deaf as an adder, alluding to an ancient belief that adders cannot hear; it is recorded in the Bible (Psalms 58:3–5).

Example Sentences

“I figured you didn’t have a dog—or he was deaf as a post. What does a minister have to steal?”

Read more on Literature

“I’m deaf as a post,” Risher recently said, “but I can see 20/20 with these glasses, and I still look at the girls. They don’t look at me, though. That’s the problem.”

Read more on New York Times

One reptile guide from the 1950s went so far as to call them, quote, “deaf as a post.”

Read more on Scientific American

“But I still remained as deaf as a post.”

Read more on Washington Post

“He’s as deaf as a post,” Ted said.

Read more on Project Gutenberg