The guy is as bald as a billards ball

[alpacinou]

Hello.

Imagine you have an intimate friend who is completely bald. Is it common to say he is "as bald as a billiards ball"?

How would you react if you heard this sentence at party?

That guy John is as bald as a billiards ball.

 

[emsr2d2]

Did you try Googling the phrase to see if it already exists? I typed "bald as a billiard ball" into the Google search box and the results page made it very clear that it's already a recognised saying.
(Note, though, that it's "billiard" - singular. The game is called "billiards" but the balls are called "billiard balls".

 

[alpacinou]

Did you try Googling the phrase to see if it already exists? I typed "bald as a billiard ball" into the Google search box and the results page made it very clear that it's already a recognised saying.
(Note, though, that it's "billiard" - singular. The game is called "billiards" but the balls are called "billiard balls".

Yes. I googled it. But I wanted to see how common it is. I mean is this something people actually say?
Would it be strange for some people to hear it?

Some idioms are in the dictionaries, but they are never actually used.

 

[emsr2d2]

I wouldn't react in any particular way. It might not be a phrase I'd choose, but I'd understand it perfectly and would just assume that was the speaker's choice of phrase. I can't say that I frequently refer to someone's lack of hair (it's not very polite) but my choice of phrase would be "bald as a coot". That's been around since 1430 apparently!

 

[Skrej]

You'll also hear 'bowling' in place of 'billiard', since it's closer in size to a human head. If I'm going to make a reference, I prefer the shorter 'chrome dome' for brevity.

 

[tzfujimino]

I've heard 'egg with legs' used to refer to such people in a movie, the name/title of which I forgot.

 

[PeterCW]

This reminds me of a silly rhyme that I learned as a child which consisted of variations on the phrase "Dai's got a head like a ping-pong ball" sung to the tune of the William Tell Overture.

 

[emsr2d2]

This reminds me of a silly rhyme that I learned as a child which consisted of variations on the phrase "Dai's got a head like a ping-pong ball" sung to the tune of the William Tell Overture.

My choir uses that as a warmup exercise (although we start with "He's"). It's great fun! Here's a version.

 

[jutfrank]

Thanks for putting that in my head, emsr2d2!

 

[Tdol]

but my choice of phrase would be "bald as a coot

Mine too, but I wouldn't recognise a coot if it were in front of me.

 

[emsr2d2]

Mine too, but I wouldn't recognise a coot if it were in front of me.

I would now because I Googled for a picture of one. Disappointingly, they're not bald!

 

[jutfrank]

I spent my early childhood around coots, and so I've always wondered how the common BrE phrase bald as a coot made sense. After a quick search, I've found this, from https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings...r birds whose,streaked or marked with white'.


Other phrases about
What's the origin of the phrase 'As bald as a coot'?

Coots are water birds whose heads have the appearance of baldness. This doesn't refer to the lack of feathers on the bird's head, but to their white markings. 'Bald' has several meanings, one of which is 'streaked or marked with white'. That's the meaning here, as in 'piebald', used to describe the black and white markings of a horse or other animal.

The phrase is very old and is referred to in John Lydgate's Chronicle of Troy, 1430: "And yet he was as balde as is a coote."

 

[emsr2d2]

That's exactly the picture and explanation I found.

 

[GoesStation]

Bald eagles, which aren't really bald, have been reestablishing themselves in my neighborhood over the last couple of years. DDT almost completely eradicated them from Ohio by the 1960s, when there were only a couple of dozen nesting pairs left in the state, all on the northern border on Lake Erie. They've slowly come south since then.

A similarly large but very common bird, a turkey vulture, made a dramatic sweep of our back yard about an hour ago and landed on the peak of our barn. It stayed there for quite a while — long enough that my son, who lives in the apartment that comprises the upper level, was able to come outside through the door immediately below the gable the bird was perched on and admire it before it flew away.

 

[jutfrank]

According to a 2008 study by a team at the University of Glasgow, vultures evolved baldness as a way of keeping cool in searing temperatures, rather than as a way of keeping their heads clean when feeding, as was previously commonly believed.

On a personal note, I'll add that I haven't overheated for several years now. And each year seems to be getting cooler!

 

[probus]

Although the game is called billiards the balls are always referred to as billiard balls very rarely or never billiards balls.

 

[probus]

This is nothing to do with English, but I just can't resist. I'm at my summer cottage at Long Point, a huge sandspit that juts out into Lake Erie. Both bald eagles and turkey vultures nest here. It is difficult to tell them apart when they are on the wing. They both soar to hunt and rarely flap their wings.

 

[emsr2d2]

Although the game is called billiards the balls are always referred to as billiard balls very rarely or never billiards balls.

As I said in post #2. ;-)

 

[GoesStation]

This is nothing to do with English, but I just can't resist. I'm at my summer cottage at Long Point, a huge sandspit that juts out into Lake Erie. Both bald eagles and turkey vultures nest here. It is difficult to tell them apart when they are on the wing. They both soar to hunt and rarely flap their wings.

If I make it up to the lake this summer (unlikely), I'll wave from the opposite shore. You can't miss me: I'm the guy in the Tilley hat.

 

[Rover_KE]

Billiards is rarely played these days—as bald as a snooker/pool ball would be more meaningful to most people—but the simile lives on.

Likewise, grandmothers haven't sucked eggs for generations (centuries?). [click]