Snug as a bug

Frequently expanded to be: Snug as a bug in a rug, this phrase has been used for some time to mean comfortable, safe right to the point of being content, for many it conjours up images of being small children and being tucked into bed by their mothers.




Origins:

Snug (c.1595) is of Scandinavian origin, akin to both the Swedish snygg and Danish snøg (meaning: neat, trim). Sense of "in a state of ease or comfort" first recorded 1630.



Snug as a bug in a rug follows the rules of rhyming simile slang, whereby the intended meaning snug has been concentrated by adding a simile 'as a ...' that rhymes. (Cockney Ryming slang is a derivative of this technique)



Now as to the specifics of this saying, it is believed to of been coined by Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790), during his later years. Specifically, in 1769 where it appeared in his play 'The Stratford Jubilee'. He later went onto use the same phrase in a letter to a female friend who's squirrel (which he called Skuggs) had died, suggesting the following epitath (1772):
Here Skugg

Lies snug

As a bug

In a rug.

References:

• Free Online Dictionary
  
• A Word A Day (discussion on the origins and usage of snug)
  
• The Phrase Finder
  
• The Mavens' Word of the Day
  
• LearningRussian.com (Proverbs and Sayings with their Russian counterparts)
  
• Online Etymology Dictionary - Snug
  
• Snug as a Bug in a Braided Rug
  
• Wikipedia - Simile
  
• Bartleby.com - Benjamin Franklin
  
• Benjamin Franklin