silent as the grave

English

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

silent as the grave (not comparable)

(idiomatic, simile) Saying absolutely nothing (especially about a particular subject).

Note: these are translations of a verb construction, to be as silent as the grave, rather than of the adjective.

to say absolutely nothing

Czech: mlčet jako hrob (cs) (be silent like a grave)
Dutch: stil als het graf, doodstil (nl)
Finnish: haudanhiljainen (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 (be silent like a stone), milczeć jak głaz (be silent like a rock), milczeć jak zaklęty, (slang): milczeć jak zamurowany, siedzieć jak mumia (pl) (literally “sit like a mummy”)
Russian: нем, как ры́ба (nem, kak rýba) (silent like a fish), молчать, как пле́нный партиза́н (molčatʹ, kak plénnyj partizán) (be silent like a captured partisan)
Serbo-Croatian: šutjeti kao grob
Spanish: ser callado como una tumba, ser como una tumba

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