Also used:
peasouper
like pea soup
pea soup fog

Meaning of Idiom ‘Thick a Pea Soup’

When fog or the humidity of the air is as thick as pea soup, it is very thick and heavy. In regards to fog, you can’t see through it very well when it is as thick as pea soup. When the air itself is as thick as pea soup, them means that if feels heavy and oppressive due to the amount of humidity.

Sentence Examples

“The fog was as thick as pea soup so I didn’t see the other car until it was right in front of me.”

“We can’t go sailing today. The fog is thick as pea soup out there.”

“What horrid weather. The air feels as thick as pea soup.”

“It’s a real pea-souper today.”

“Flights had to be delayed today because of the bad pea souper hanging over the airport.”

“Fog on the South Plains was as thick as pea soup this morning! “Smoke and smog were so familiar to London that it had a number of nicknames, including “pea soup fog” because of the yellowish or green tint, or as the famous author Charles Dickens called it, “London ivy.” — Business Insider, March 3, 2023

Origin of As Thick As Pea Soup

Since pea soup has long been a well-known soup and since it is a very thick soup, to make something ‘as thick as pea soup’ has long been used as a cooking instruction. At some point, during the late 1800s, during the industrial revolution, it began to be used to describe fog or especially the thick, brown, and sometimes deadly fog or ‘smog’ in London that was caused by air pollution. A particularly bad day was known as a ‘peasouper.’ Today, it is used to refer to any thick fog, not necessarily smog and its use has been extended to describe very humid conditions, as well.