[Idiom] as thick as two short planks (BE)

[Mnemon]

Hi.

I’ve made so many mistakes. My brother must think that I’m as thick as two short planks.

Where does the idea come from? I mean the idea beneath the simile. What does “two short planks” here refer to?

Thanks.

 

[emsr2d2]

Did you try Googling for the answer first? That's what I had to do. I simply Googled "origin of thick as two short planks" (without the quotation marks) and found several useful sites. Here's the first.

 

[Mnemon]

Did you try Googling for the answer first?

Actually I was more interested to hear from native speakers; that whenever they utilize or hear the phrase what image it conjures up for them. That's why I created this thread. Thanks for the link, though.

 

[emsr2d2]

It doesn't "conjure up" anything. We rarely think about the origin of such phrases. We just all know it means "very stupid".

 

[probus]

It doesn't "conjure up" anything. We rarely think about the origin of such phrases. We just all know it means "very stupid".

Yes indeed. I don't think it's used in AmE, but I instantly knew what it meant. In my neck of the woods we are rather fond of thick as a brick.