dumb as a post

[probus]

Is it heard where you live? What does it mean?

[billmcd]

Is it heard where you live? What does it mean?

It means as much brain-power/intelligence as an inanimate object. But you would seldom, if ever, hear/read it in modern/current conversation/literature (AmE).

[5jj]

I know only 'as deaf as a post'.

[Barb_D]

Bill must live in a nicer part of the country than I do.

Dumb as post.
Dumb as a box of rocks.

Here's even more ways to say this: Metaphors for "He is as dumb as..." : Larry Bodine Law Marketing Blog

[Soup]

Bill must live in a nicer part of the country than I do.

Dumb as post.
Dumb as a box of rocks.

Here's even more ways to say this: Metaphors for "He is as dumb as..." : Larry Bodine Law Marketing Blog

There's also stupid as a stick (heard from First Nation speakers in the Yukon Territory, Canada).

[5jj]

BrE has as thick as two short planks; also as thick as pigsh*t.

[probus]

It means as much brain-power/intelligence as an inanimate object. But you would seldom, if ever, hear/read it in modern/current conversation/literature (AmE).

Thanks for that. Comments from people who do not hear the idiom where they live are just as interesting as definitions from those who do, because I believe that many idioms are highly regional.

I live in Toronto. Where do you live?

By the way, I suspect that this idiom initially referred to deafness/dumbness, but with the evolution of meaning in the word dumb from speechless to stupid the meaning of the idiom also changed in an identical way.

[5jj]

Thanks for that. Comments from people who do not hear the idiom where they live are just as interesting as definitions from those who do, because I believe that many idioms are highly regional.

If they are restricted to one region, then I don't think there is a lot of point in introducing them in this forum. Learners have enough to think about without worrying about rare expressions. Of course, if somebody comes across such an idiom and asks what it means, then we should provide an answer if we can, but we should warn that it is not generally used/understood.

[Vidor]

I like "dumb as a sack of hammers."

And "dumb as a post" is a common phrase in American English so far as I know.

[probus]

If they are restricted to one region, then I don't think there is a lot of point in introducing them in this forum. Learners have enough to think about without worrying about rare expressions. Of course, if somebody comes across such an idiom and asks what it means, then we should provide an answer if we can, but we should warn that it is not generally used/understood.

But how can we native speakers know whether an idiom is regional unless we discuss it among ourselves?

Having lived on both sides of the pond, I am aware of the regional nature of some idioms. But there are others that I hear, and I'm uncertain about how common they are in various places.