cricket

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(as) chirpy as a cricket

Very energetic or lively. ("Chirpy" means lively, and it also describes the sound a cricket makes.) I can never keep up with Haley—she's always as chirpy as a cricket, even without a morning coffee! After a full night's sleep, I woke up feeling chirpy as a cricket. Good luck keeping up with two-year-old twins—they're about as chirpy as a cricket!

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.

be (as) chirpy as a cricket

To be very energetic or lively. ("Chirpy" means lively, and it also describes the sound a cricket makes.) I can never keep up with Haley—she's always chirpy as a cricket, even without a morning coffee!

crickets

Used to indicate an absence of any positive response or reaction from someone else. Typically used with singular verbs. I thought my book was going to be a huge hit, but I heard crickets when I showed it to my publisher. A: "Well, did the board of directors like your presentation?" B: "I guess not. It was crickets after we were finished."

hear crickets

To receive no response or reaction at all from someone else, typically indicating displeasure or disapproval. I thought my book was going to be a huge hit, but I heard crickets when I showed it to my publisher. A: "Well, did the board of directors like your presentation?" B: "I guess not. We heard crickets after we were finished."

holy crickets

An exclamation of surprise, shock, or astonishment. Holy crickets, the bill for that dinner was nearly $200! We won the lottery? Holy crickets, that's amazing news!

it's just not cricket

It isn't fair, sportsmanlike, or legitimate. I know you want to avoid confrontation, but it's just not cricket to break up with someone by text message. You say it's just not cricket, but everyone else fluffs up their CV when they apply for a job.

it's not cricket

It isn't fair, sportsmanlike, or legitimate. I know you want to avoid confrontation, but it's not cricket to break up with someone by text message. I don't see why you think it's not cricket—everyone else does it all the time.

See also: cricket, not

jiminy cricket

A minced oath for "Jesus Christ," expressing surprise, shock, or astonishment. Jiminy cricket, the bill for that dinner was nearly $200! We won the lottery? Jiminy cricket, that's amazing news!

merry as a cricket

old-fashioned Jubilant; especially carefree, lively, and full of fun. Tom is playing outside, merry as a cricket. Though he acts as merry as a cricket, he is dreadfully unhappy when he is all alone.

It's not cricket.

and It's not kosher.

It's not done.; It's not acceptable. You can't do that! It's not cricket!

See also: cricket, not

*merry as a cricket

and *merry as the day is long

very happy and carefree. (*Also: as ~.) Mary is as merry as a cricket whenever she has company come to call. The little children are as merry as the day is long.

not cricket

Unfair, unsportsmanlike, as in It's not cricket to let him go without notice. This term, in which the sport of cricket is equated with upright behavior, survives in America despite the relative unfamiliarity of the sport there. [Mid-1800s]

See also: cricket, not

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

it's just not cricket

it's not cricket

BRITISH, OLD-FASHIONED

People say it's just not cricket or it's not cricket to mean that someone's behaviour is unfair or unreasonable. Companies can't treat their staff like that — it's not cricket! Note: Cricket is traditionally associated with the values of fairness and respect for other players.

not cricket

contrary to traditional standards of fairness or rectitude. British informal

The game of cricket, with its traditional regard for courtesy and fair play, has been a metaphor for these qualities since at least the mid 19th century.

See also: cricket, not

it’s (just) not ˈcricket

(old-fashioned, British English, informal) it is not a fair or an honourable action or way of behaving

See also: cricket, not

cricket

mod. acceptable. (See negative examples at not cricket.) Is it really cricket to play under two different names?

not cricket

mod. unfair; illegitimate; unorthodox. (See affirmative examples at cricket.) What do you mean it’s not cricket? You do it.

See also: cricket, not

not cricket, it's/that's

Unsportsmanlike, unfair, dishonorable. Eric Partridge traced this term to 1867 but believed it was not widely used until the early twentieth century. Among the early references in print is Stanley Houghton’s 1914 play, The Partners, “. . . but it is not playing the game. In other words, Cynthia, it is not cricket.” Although cricket is a sport popular exclusively in Great Britain and most of its former colonies, the term crossed the Atlantic and became a cliché in the United States as well.

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.