Frozen like a hare in the headlights of a car

Posted by Smokey Stover on July 24, 2005

In Reply to: Frozen like a hare in the headlights of a car posted by David FG on July 24, 2005

: : : Do you know the meaning of: Frozen like a hare in the headlights of a car?

: : I've heard the expression -- deer in the headlights. It's literal. Deer do freeze -- don't move -- when they are caught by a car's headlights.

: The usual phrase this (the European) side of the Atlantic is 'caught like a rabbit in the headlights' which means the same, but although I have often seen, in the headlights, rabbits running across or along roads I have never seen one freeze when thus caught.

: DFG

We here in the eastern U.S. would probably never say "hare in the headlights." Although we see, and run over, a lot of rabbits, we don't encounter hares. We expect them to be found either in Great Britain or Out West, where they are called jackrabbits. SS