Dead as a doornail
Dead as a doornail means completely dead, or, informally, no longer working or active; it appears in A Christmas Carol as an older, familiar saying. Today it can describe a flat battery or an abandoned plan, though it can sound too casual when speaking about someone's death.
Where it comes from
An old saying in a familiar opening
The phrase appears in A Christmas Carol, but it is older than Dickens. A doornail is a metal nail fixed in a door, giving the comparison a solid, lifeless object.
At the beginning of A Christmas Carol, the narrator firmly establishes that Marley has died before describing his return as a ghost.
In A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Completely finished or inactive
Today the phrase also describes things that have stopped working or lost all activity. This is a figurative use, rather than a claim that something was ever alive.
In Great Expectations, Pip finds that Miss Havisham's clocks have all stopped at the same time. Such clocks could informally be described as dead as a doornail.
In Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
How to use Dead as a doornail
- Use it to stress that something is completely dead or inactive.
- Keep it for informal conversation or light description.
- Choose gentler words when discussing a real person's death.
Did Dickens invent dead as a doornail?
No, the saying is older than Dickens. In A Christmas Carol, he treats it as an expression readers already know and pauses to consider its odd comparison. Its memorable place in the opening helps explain its strong connection with the book.
Why a doornail rather than another kind of nail?
The exact reason is uncertain. One common explanation connects the phrase with nails hammered through a door and bent over so they could not easily be reused. That is a possible explanation, not a settled account of the saying's origin.
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