Not to be the brightest candle in the box

[Johnyxxx]

Hello,

In skipping through a book I am going to read sometimes I came across a phrase he isn´t the brightest candle in the box which, as far as I can understand it, means he is not clever too much. I would like to ask if it is a regular English idiom.


Maybe she’s expecting the undertaker himself. He’s otherwise engaged, though, so it’s Jeffries who’s taken the black horse and wagon over from Woodstock. He’s a bit strange-looking, is Miller. The papers describe him as short, with bow-legs and long arms. Word is, he isn’t the brightest candle in the box, either. Lottie, who met him a couple of times in passing, said his face looked like he was trying to solve a difficult math problem that was beyond him. He climbs down from his wagon, enters the house, and meets what’s waiting for him.

The Fisherman by John Langan.


Thanks a lot.

 

[Tdol]

There are many variations on the pattern with the same meaning- not the sharpest knife in the drawer, etc.

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello.

In skipping through a book I am going to read sometimes, I came across [STRIKE]a[/STRIKE] the phrase "He isn't the brightest candle in the box" which, as far as I [STRIKE]can[/STRIKE] understand it, means "He is not very clever". [STRIKE]too much.[/STRIKE] I would like to ask if it is a [STRIKE]regular[/STRIKE] common English idiom.

Note my corrections above.

Remember to put quotes inside quotation marks and to start full quoted sentences with a capital letter. Note that we don't say that someone is "clever too much". You can say "very clever", "particularly clever" or just "clever".

I have marked "sometimes" in blue and underlined it because I am not convinced it's the word you're looking for. Do you mean that you plan to read it occasionally? (That's what it means there.) Perhaps you meant "some time", meaning "at some unspecified point in the future".

 

[Tdol]

And there's another family of phrases with a similar meaning using short- a sandwich short of a picnic, etc.

 

[Johnyxxx]

Yes, some time.

Thank you for helping me.

 

[SoothingDave]

Bulbs nowadays. Not candles.

 

[jutfrank]

Bulbs nowadays. Not candles.

In a box?

 

[jutfrank]

You can consider this expression as a variation of a semi-fixed idiom, following the fixed pattern:

(be) not the ___est X in the Y

The metaphor works especially well when the superlative adjective is metaphorical of ways to describe a mind (i.e., bright/sharp) but it can be creatively extended in many other ways.

I've never heard this particular expression before but the meaning is very clear since a), it uses the idea of brightness, and b), it follows the fixed pattern.

 

[SoothingDave]

Do your bulbs come in a bag?

 

[jutfrank]

Do your bulbs come in a bag?

:lol:

I buy mine by the barrel.

 

[Tdol]

In a box?

Wattage?