Some of the similies like as swift as an arrow or as clean as a whistle are more common than others...
Recently i heard someone say .... as serious as dead man .....
is this is a classical simile or just a interesting invention....
i have also heard the usage ...dead serious...what about this phrase?
Thanks in advance...
tuhin
I've never heard that expession, either. I've heard "as serious as a heart attack", though.
> not deceased but complete
Not sure about that - I think the latter is just a connotative abstraction drawn from the original meaning, which was clearly related to death.
fwiw, the phrase
deadly serious is almost as common as
dead serious - 528 gitz against 583 gitz (YMMV). I too have not previously heard the 'dead man' expression - seems a little laboured in its extension of the metaphor.
And, I have heard: "as serious as cancer."
I get only two hits on "serious as dead man walking"
...two on "calm as a..."; 13 on "wired as a..."; 21 on "good as a..."
1040 without "serious," only a few of which preceded by an adjective
While it's slightly OT, over a million hits on just "dead man walking"
yeah, sorry Dale, I should have made my comment more explicit: I am also very familiar with the 'dead man walking' construction, but not with the 'as... as...' phrase using 'dead man'. There are also other such general constructions, notably to do with dead men on pirate's chests!
Mav, no need for an apology, my followup was in no way intended as a criticism