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]

not a teacher

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.

 

[Miamia111]

Hello- Yes, "dump as a post" is used where I live, and it is not very nice! It is an expression that means that a person is not very smart. A "post", in this expression, refers to a fence post- used to keep live stock in, usually made of wood- having NO brain. If someone is as dumb as a post- they are as dumb as possible. I hope that helps! Mia

 

[probus]

I suspect that originally this expression meant dumb in the sense of mute rather than stupid. In starting the thread I was thinking about whether it retained any trace of that meaning. The consensus seems to be clear: it does not.

 

[birdeen's call]

I've heard some people use "dumb as a pole".



...oh, wait a minute...

 

[freezeframe]

"your wise men don't know how it feels to be thick as a brick"

a little band called "Jethro Tull"

 

[JMurray]

"Deaf as a post" and "thick as a brick" were the most familiar of these terms in my childhood. But I remember hearing "thick as railway cup", referring to the chunky crockery that, in bygone days, was associated with refreshment stops at small-town stations along NZ's main trunk line. I believe the equally obsolete UK equivalent may be "thick as a NAAFI cup", which I once heard said in a Brit sitcom, or maybe a "Carry On" film. A vague citation, I admit.