As poor as a churchmouse
As poor as a churchmouse
Povero come un topo di campagna
Povero come un topo di campagna
Meanings
Very poor
Examples
Poor thing, he's as poor as a churchmouse
Poveretto, è povero come un curatoHe's as poor as a churchmouse; he hasn't even got shoes to walk in
È povero come un topo di campagna; non ha nemmeno le scarpe per camminareOrigin
In the oldest version (James Howell's collection of proverbs in 1659), it was “hungry as a church mouse” implying that since a church usually has no food cupboard, any mouse living there has a lean time of it