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

We all puzzled over the things our parents said when we were “knee-high to a grasshopper.”

From Washington Post

The ancients were probably drinking pink when Julius Caesar was knee-high to a grasshopper.

From The Guardian

He told Francois he was “intellectually knee-high to a grasshopper”, Bercow said.

From The Guardian

“I remember when you were knee-high to a grasshopper. Get over here, boy!”

From Literature

In addition to the crowded “dog kennel” cells, he described children lining up for mealtime, with the littlest boy “knee-high to a grasshopper” at perhaps four or five years old.

From Washington Times