Brewer's: Oyster

Fast as a Kentish oyster i.e. hermetically sealed. Kentish oysters are proverbially good, and all good oysters are fast-closed.

Oyster

No more sense than an oyster. This is French: “Ilraisonne raisonne comme une huitre.” Oysters have a mouth, but no head.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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