Pocket mouse idiom3/16/2023 ![]() Now, it’s also a fact that Anglo-Welsh historian and writer James Howell (1594 – 1666) published a proverb collection in 1659 entitled, “ Paramoigraphy” wherein the idiom was listed as “ hungry as a churchmouse.” That being said, Grimm did mention in his 1719 book that the idiom was from the Scottish proverb puir as a kirkmouse. And before that, it appears in “ A Collection of English Proverbs” compiled by English naturalist John Ray (29 November 1627 – 17 January 1705) and published in 1670 (who up until 1670 spelled his name John Wray). In fact, in German poor as a church mouse is arm wie eine Kirchenmaus and it’s found in a Grimm’s Dutch-German dictionary published in 1719. The saying appears in a number of publications throughout the 1700s and 1800s, and is found in other countries. I tell you I’m as poor as a church mouse - I’m as poor as a church mouse.” It won’t do them any good, - not at all, Sir, not at all, so much money thrown into the sea. Gave five dollars the other day for church missions, don’t believe the heathen will ever see one cent of it. Snapjohn, and after a very brief exchange, Mr. This volume opened with a short story titled, “The Seven Sleepers.” In Shelton’s story, a clergyman by the name of Pettibones approaches Mr. ” How apt is that for a headline?Įpiscopalian clergyman and American author Frederick William Shelton (1815 – 1881) wrote and published “ Peeps From A Belfry: Volume 3” in 1856. The title for the story was simply, “ Poor As A Church Mouse: Since Confetti Came Into Use, The Saying Has More Meaning Than At Former Times. ![]() “Now that rice has been abandoned for paper confetti, these mice have all disappeared. Why, in my church, where weddings are so popular, several hundreds of mice - fat chaps they were, too - found an ample food supply in the rice that was sprinkled over the brides.” ![]() The saying “ as poor as a church mouse” was then meaningless. When rice was used our churches were overrun with mice. ![]() “This confetti fashion is very welcome to us sextons. The sexton of a fashionable New York church was interviewed on the new tradition, and his opinion favored the switch. It was in the Nashua (New Hampshire) Telegraph newspaper edition of Apthat an article appeared discussing the move away from throwing rice at weddings and the move towards throwing confetti instead. Plain selfishness urges me to welcome the immediate payment of the bonus but common sense forces the rejection of the plan. I am supporting my family at common labor, not relief. He was an outspoken sort, and included this paragraph in his letter.Īs one who volunteered long before the draft was hardly thought of and who is now as poor as a church mouse I count it an honor to take my position with you on this momentous question. He went on to extol the other virtues of being a soldier, and all this was to correct a story that had previously been published in the newspaper. To that end, the minimum pay was $45 per month. He stated that if a soldier had family - in other words, dependents - that the government would deduct $15 from his pay, match that amount, and send it along to his family. Norvin Mack wrote about the minimum government pay of $30 per month to soldiers along with free lodging, food, and medical care. The Pittsburgh Press printed a Letter to the Editor on Mathat was written by Norvin Mack of 525 Sheridan Avenue in Pittsburgh. The idiom wasn’t a recent one in the least. Those were the days before electricity, telephones, automobiles, radios, television and modern plumbing.Īnd indeed the author of that copy was correct. You must be an oldtimer if you can remember back when this expression was so common. The ad was referred to in fine print as “ one of a series of weekly articles paid for by a member of the Club’s Board of Directors.” The ad was titled, “ As Poor As A Church Mouse ” and began with this copy: The author of a print ad placed in the Milwaukee Sentinel on Novemwas intended as a plea for donations to build the Milwaukee Boys’ Club described as a real club for a real boy. The interesting fact about this idiom is that it isn’t just an idiom used in English although it’s been well-used in English over the years. It’s based on the fact that a church doesn’t have a cupboard or a pantry from which a mouse can steal away even the smallest food crumb. When the claim is made that someone is poor as a church mouse, it means they haven’t anything to spare. ![]()
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