- English translation
As coarse and blind as a rat in the privy.
- Literal wording
Like the latrine rat: thick and blind.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying targets a man who is coarse and sullen, someone whose heavy manner and scowling face make him disagreeable. It does this by comparing him to a rat that lives in a toilet, an image chosen to belittle and to attach something filthy and contemptible to the person being described.
The word for 'thick' can point to a bulky body or to boorish, rough behaviour, and which sense dominates is not fixed. The role of 'blind' is less settled: it may simply belong to the picture of the rat, or add a further jab at the man, but its exact force is unexplained.
- When it is used
Directed at a man whose coarse, glowering manner makes him unpleasant. Since it likens him to vermin from a latrine, it is a deliberately degrading, open insult rather than a neutral description, and suits situations where blunt mockery is intended.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: As coarse and blind as a rat in the privy.