Can you explain 'a bad lobster in a dark cellar' as it relates to Charles Dickens?

Tabby Tom

A similar phrase had already been used in the American political arena by John Randolph of Henry Clay: 'Like a rotten mackerel in the moonlight, he both shines and stinks'. According to phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/15/messages/686.html the luminescent glow of rotten mackerel is caused by the bacteria that are making it decompose. Maybe the same thing occurs with lobsters when they go off. Nov 23 02, 8:59 AM

It is taken from A Christmas Carol- 'It was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar.' Nov 25 02, 3:06 AM

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