/juː kʊd əv ˈnɒkt miː ˈdaʊn wɪð ə ˈfɛðə(ɹ)/
English idiom, informal. To be so astonished you can hardly believe what you’re seeing or hearing.
Draft Not yet checked by a native English speaker.
How do people use You could have knocked me down with a feather
?
Informal and a little old-fashioned, said after telling a story about news that stunned you. It’s almost always in the past with “could have” (often “could’ve”), and you can swap in other people: “you could have knocked her down with a feather”. The idea is that you were so shocked the lightest touch would have toppled you.
Also said You could have knocked me over with a feather, Knock me down with a feather
You could have knocked me down with a feather
in real sentences
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You could’ve knocked me down with a feather.
Tatoeba, sentence by sundown, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Knock me down with a feather!
Tatoeba, sentence by deniko, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does You could have knocked me down with a feather
come from?
English Wiktionary’s earliest quotation is from a London weekly, The Idler, in 1838: “You might have knocked her down with a feather.” Agatha Christie used it in her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920). The picture explains itself, and there’s no evidence of any particular story behind it.
Mistakes learners make with You could have knocked me down with a feather
Learners use it in the present for something happening now (“you can knock me down with a feather”). It looks back at a surprise that already happened, so it needs “could have”.
Other English idioms like You could have knocked me down with a feather
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