Meanings
- figurativelySomething that is very small or limited.
"That's the answer," he announced gleefully. "What you don't know about chickens could be written on the back of a postage stamp.
1905, “The Bird And The Bride”, in Poultry, volume 2, page 321 more example
Something classical that Annie couldn't immediately place, which was hardly surprising given that what Annie knew about symphonies could be written on the back of a postage stamp.
2008, Sam Baker, Deadly BeautifulSynonyms: could fit on the back of a postage stamp
Synonyms & antonyms
phraseSomething that is very small or limited.
Origin
Due to the very small size of a postage stamp. First use appears c. 1905. See cite below.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
could be written on the back of a postage stamp. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/could%20be%20written%20on%20the%20back%20of%20a%20postage%20stamp
“could be written on the back of a postage stamp.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/could%20be%20written%20on%20the%20back%20of%20a%20postage%20stamp. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “could be written on the back of a postage stamp,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/could%20be%20written%20on%20the%20back%20of%20a%20postage%20stamp.
Source: could be written on the back of a postage stamp on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.