a crashing bore

[peppy_man]

"How can you have a conversation with someone who doesn't have a single "O"
level? It's a crashing bore."
In this context, what does 'a crashing bore' mean?
Thank you in advance.

[rewboss]

It simply means somebody who (or something which) is very boring.

The phrase is slightly old-fashioned (actually, so are O-levels) and usually regarded as typical for the "upper classes". The speaker seems a little snobby to me: assuming that if somebody who has no academic qualifications must be boring to talk to.

[peppy_man]

rewboss, your guess is absolutely right.
Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, is the person who used the phrase
when she publicly criticized one of her stepchildren, Diana.
Now I'm halfway through 'Princess Diana: Her Life Story' by Richard Buskin,
in which I came across the phrase.
Thanks for your reply!

[curmudgeon]

To describe poor old Di as a crashing bore is a trifle unfortunate.

[mykwyner]

If it was intended, the verbal irony is in extremely poor taste.