‘Living under a rock’ – English idiom with meaning and examples

by Jakub Marian

Tip: See my list of the Most Common Mistakes in English. It will teach you how to avoid mis­takes with com­mas, pre­pos­i­tions, ir­reg­u­lar verbs, and much more.

Living under a rock is a nice recent English idiom meaning “being oblivious or ignorant to what happens in the outside world”. It is used to describe a person who doesn’t know something any “normal” human being is supposed to know, usually in relation to some recent events:

This guy lives under a rock—he doesn’t even know that George Bush isn’t the president of the United States anymore.

It is most commonly used in a question (not very polite), in amazement that someone doesn’t know something the speaker considers obvious:

Have you been living under a rock? How can’t you know that Peter and Jane got married?

By the way, if you haven’t read my guide on how to avoid the most common mistakes in English, make sure to check it out; it deals with similar topics.

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