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

Well?" he blurted, "what are you standing there for like a bump on a log?

From A Fool There Was by Porter Emerson Browne

"You're just sitting there like a bump on a log, as Aunt Lu used to say."

From Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Big Woods by Florence England Nosworthy

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 Harry Castlemon