like a bump on a log

Idioms  

1. Unmoving, inactive, stupidly silent. For example, Harry just sat there like a bump on a log while everyone else joined in the fun. This simile presumably alludes to the immobility of such a protuberance. [Colloquial; mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

like a bump on a log

He never offers a suggestion for an outing and just sits like a bump on a log if we do anything as a group.

From Slate ● Oct. 18, 2018

"If you expect me to sit here like a bump on a log you're making a big mistake."

From Time Magazine Archive

He likes it fust-rate, wearin' out that hard bench settin' on it night in 'n' night out, like a bump on a log!

From Timothy's Quest A Story for Anybody, Young or Old, Who Cares to Read It by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin

Looks like I ought to ’a’ done something mor’n sit there like a bump on a log while he walked off with the gold.”

From Brand Blotters by Clarence H. (Clarence Herbert) Rowe

Then I stood around like a bump on a log, trying to screw my courage up to ask the blear eyed, red-nosed Apollo for a job.

From Danger Signals Remarkable, Exciting and Unique Examples of the Bravery, Daring and Stoicism in the Midst of Danger of Train Dispatchers and Railroad Engineers by John A. Hill