be as silent as the grave

English

Etymology

Perhaps connected to the idea of taking a secret to the grave, or the idea that dead men tell no tales.

Verb

be as silent as the grave

1. (idiomatic) to say absolutely nothing (especially about a particular subject)

Translations

say absolutely nothing

• Czech: mlčet jako hrob (cs) (be silent like a grave)
• Finnish: haudanhiljainen (fi) (grave-silent)
• French: muet comme une tombe (fr), muet comme une carpe (fr), muet comme un poisson (fr)
• German: wie ein Grab schweigen (de) (be silent like a grave)
• Hungarian: néma, mint a sír (hu) (silent like a grave)
• Icelandic: þegja eins og steinn (is) (be silent like stone)

• Polish: milczeć jak grób (pl) (be silent like a grave), milczeć jak kamień (pl) (be silent like a stone), milczeć jak głaz (pl) (be silent like a rock), milczeć jak zaklęty (pl), slang: milczeć jak zamurowany (pl)
• Russian: нем, как рыба (ru) (nem, kak ryba) (silent like a fish), молчать, как пленный партизан (ru) (molčatʹ, kak plennyj partizan) (be silent like a captured partisan)
• Serbo-Croatian: šutjeti kao grob (sh)
• Spanish: ser callado como una tumba (es), ser como una tumba (es)

Synonyms

• be as silent as the tomb