a cricket on the hearth

a cricket on the hearth

A sign of good health and good fortune. I'm putting this cricket statuette here because a cricket on the hearth is supposed to bring good luck. No, don't kill it! A cricket on the hearth is a good thing! No, thank you, I don't want a picture of a cricket near my fireplace—and don't start with that "cricket on the hearth" stuff.

See also: cricket, hearth, on

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

cricket on the hearth

A symbol of good luck and health. A cricket on the hearth has been a sign of household luck for millennia and in many cultures. Crickets were widely considered to bring good fortune as well as a kind of companionship. Representations of a cricket have long been included as a fireplace decoration. The expression “to find a cricket on the hearth is the luckiest thing of all” comes from Charles Dickens's novella, Cricket on the Hearth.

See also: cricket, hearth, on

Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price Copyright © 2011 by Steven D. Price