Frog in a hailstorm

[Michael Quinion]

> I know "toad" for each of these: Blinkin' like a toad in a
> hailstorm, a toad strangler. Both gleaned from my wife, who's from
> northern Arkansas.

Thanks. Yes, Google has some of those, too. Confusingly, "like a
toad in a RAINstorm" turns up in a school idiom glossary where it is
defined as "that empty, goggle-eyed stare that you get from someone
when they don't understand what you are saying". I don't want us all
to get in so deep here that we can't escape again, but could that
possibly be true?


--
Michael Quinion
Editor, World Wide Words
E-mail: <TheEditor at worldwidewords.org>
Web: <http://www.worldwidewords.org/>