Expression: "Packed like..."

[Tom]

Hi

I heard the following expression in a movie. I really could not get it fully. It was something like this:

Blind hero: Is the temple filled (with people)?
Child: "Packed like quills in a shawk" or "Packed like quick in a shot
"Packed like queer in a shark"

Something like this!!! :shock:

Is anyone aware of a simile of this kind?

Sorry for this immature question,but I am curious.

Tom

[Jamie (K)]

We have plenty of expressions like this, but I can't come up with one that sounds similar to your guesses. Maybe it involved some creative play on words.

[Mister Micawber]

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After 30 pp of Google results, I give up too.

I thought, like Jamie, that there would be many sayings of the form 'packed like... in....', but Ms Google offers up 99% sardines, and nothing much else imaginative; certainly nothing that sounds like 'quails in a squawk' or 'quills in a hawk' or whatever.
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_________________
Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Conchita]

This got me curious and sent me on a hunt for some more imagery. The comparisons I found are useless to Tom, but I thought they were fun:

(The place was packed/full as/like)

turkeys on their way to an Adopt A Turkey sanctuary farm in upstate New York
a fish taco
a calzone
a Brazilian bikini
a supermarket before a hurricane
a mosh pit
a rich man’s fridge
a woman’s suitcase
vultures on a corpse
sushi
frozen food and battery hens
tuna in brine
a truck-stop diner at dawn.
herrings in a barrel
a cattle car
like sardines in a crushed tin box (I liked this version of the popular one)

This one uses (most of) the proverbial phrases at once:

Like a can of sardines in a Tokyo subway car in Times Square at midnight on New Year's Eve.

Like this forum on the evening of March 26th

(That last one is the only one I made up!) :roll:

[Tom]

Many thanks to Jamie, Mister.Micawber and Conchita for all your interest and effort for my query!

I tried again and I give up with/ on the given one:

Hero: Is the temple filled?
Child: Packed like quiver to the archer!

(and the child did have a quiver fastened to his back then)

Do you think it sounds logical? Could it be used as a simile in a movie based on a biblical story that dates back to 3000 years?

Please reply! I am curious!

Tom

[Yankee]

Hi Tom

That sounds logical. It might just reflect the idea of the closeness of a quiver to an archer's body and the comparison is appropriate to the context.

Amy
_________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Tom]

I listened to it again and if I am not mistaken, he said:

Packed like wheat in a shock.

Is anyone aware of a simile like this?

Tom

[Conchita]

Eureka! I first thought it could be 'like wheat in a sock'. But there's a definition of 'shock' that fits perfectly: a pile of sheaves of grain stacked upright in a field for drying.

So, there we have it, at last!

[Tom]

Hello MM

I wasn't even courteous enough to tell you that I finally found the said expression. By the way, did you see it then? Do you find it reasonable enough?

Wheat in a shock

Tom

[Mister Micawber]

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Packed like wheat in a shock is a good simile, though a bit dated-- I doubt many people know what a shock of wheat is. But I had completely forgotten this thread.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Jamie (K)]

But people know what a shock of hair is.

[Molly]

What was the film?