dull as dishwater

English

Alternative forms

• dull as ditchwater

Etymology

Modified from dull as ditchwater (1700s) in the first half of the 1900s, perhaps through mispronunciation.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adjective

dull as dishwater (not comparable)

1. (simile) Boring; ordinary; exceedingly dull.

   Synonym: boring as beans

   • 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 6:

     ‘My blessed Public must have a pretty girl’s face. Romance isn’t romance, adventure is as dull as dishwater...to my Public...unless, every so often, a face to sink a thousand ships, or is it saps? shows up.’

Translations

extremely boring

• Finnish: tylsä kuin mikä, umpitylsä
• French: chiant comme la pluie (fr)
• Polish: nudny jak flaki z olejem (pl)

See also

• watch paint dry
• bored to tears