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

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

It makes me feel like a bump on a log.

From The Prairie Mother by Becher, Arthur E.

Then he walked away and I sat there like a bump on a log and waited.

From Aunt Jane's Nieces in the Red Cross by Baum, L. Frank (Lyman Frank)

I'll not stay here like a bump on a log and let her be shot at, now I—" "Come back here.

From Rodney The Partisan by Castlemon, Harry