...short of... adj.
in combs., a phr. used to mean that someone is unstable or not very intelligent; in specified phrs. below but also in ad hoc combs.
 | Gibson City Courier (IL) 17 Oct. 4/6: A while back, I ran across some of these ‘lights on but nobody’s home’ type of statements. Here they are: The butter has slipped off his noodles. The spots have slipped off his dice. He ran one too many plays without a helmet. His driveway doesn't go all the way to the street. The mortar has slipped from his bricks. He's a few pickles short of a full jar. He's two bricks short of a full chimney. They are running a quart low. Three bricks shy of a full load. Riding shotgun with empty barrels. Not dragging a full stringer of fish. Has a few lights missing in the old marquee. His marbles are flat on one side. The propeller has slipped off his beanie. Has a leak in his marble bag. Splinters in the windmill of his mind. His dipstick isn't touching oil . . . or his oil is hinting the dipstick. Eating with one chopstick. Doesn't pack a full suitcase. Got one wheel in the sand. Ain't wrapped too tight. His pilot light went out. He's loose in his loafers. | |
![[Scot]](/static/img/flags/sco.png "Scotland") | Strip Jack 171: Sounds to me like he’s one domino shy of a set. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Aus. Word Map 🌐 a couple of lamingtons short of a CWA meeting also means not the ‘full quid’, that is, not fully informed, a bit slow on the uptake (particularly with getting jokes) or a bit light-on in the intelligence department! | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Dying of the Light 115: With the exception of Alfred Purvey, who was definitely a few stamps short of the first-class rate, they proved to be considerably less gaga than Jarvis had feared. | |
![[Ire]](/static/img/flags/ire.png "Ireland") | Secret World of the Irish Male (1995) 39: Prince Charles is barking anyway. He is quite simply several chevrolets short of a funeral. | |
| Albuqerque Jrnl (NM) 10 May 11/1: What are the distinctions among [...] two tacos short of a combination plate, two cans short of a six pack, a few chips short of a fish dinner, a few pickles short of a barrel, one hamburger short of a Happy Meal. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | 8 Ball Chicks (1998) 117: I was worried that Tricky might be a couple of bottles short of a six-pack. | |
| Guardian 15 Apr. 35/5: I’v always suspected those [...] wrinklies with lime green cagoules and a half-pound of Kendal mint-cake in their bum-bags were a couple of bottle banks short of a beauty spot. | |
| ‘The Accident’ in Crimes in Southern Indiana [ebook] ‘[Y]ou did imply that I’m one card shy of a full deck’. | |
| ‘Lady and the Gimp’ in Pulp Ink [ebook] ‘She’s amazing.’ [...] ‘Clearly a can short of a six-pack, but amazing nevertheless’. | |
| Donnybrook [ebook] [C]onvinced that Purcell was fifty-two cards shy of a full deck. | |
| Empty Wigs (t/s) 146: His dada had a head full of shrapnel from the previous show and was a few volumes short of a library [ibid.] 351: What sensitivity! Quick to take offence and even quicker to give it. A skin short of the full onion [ibid] 718: ‘You’re behaving - if you really want to know - like you’re a skin short of the whole Rizla pack’. |
In phrases
not very intelligent.
| [ | | L.A. Times 1 Oct. 28/5: A man with all the earnmarks of a great player, but [...] a few chips short of National League class in ‘inside play’]. |
| Truth, Mainly 26 Oct. 🌐 Perot has made far too much money to be worthy of very much trust and his quick withdrawal in July made him look pretty flaky, a couple of computer chips short of a complete circuit. | |
| see sense 1 | |
| Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA) 29 Nov. 44/5: It must be obvious even to a borg with a few chips short of a circuit board that they didn’t succeed. | |
| ‘Delicacy’ on La Femme Fiction 🌐 All the stress and pressure of the job can cause you to become a few chips short of a cookie. | |
| ‘Six Steps Away From the Bears’ on BuyAndHold 🌐 ‘Tell me again how you would keep the bears away, Cora.’ ‘WHAT bears, mom? Are you a few chips short of a computer, or what? Let’s go do something.’. | |
| ‘My Kingdom for Conservatism’ posting 8 Aug. at ABCOnline 🌐 It seems as though the whole world is going mad, loony, crazy, three chips short of a happy meal. | |
| Message 26 Mar. on Eastenders Message Board at LookUpUK.com 🌐 Is Zoe a couple of chips short of an order or what? Why the hell did they all stand by and watch the fool burn that cheque? | |
| ‘North Korea History’ at LonelyPlanet.com 🌐 His son, Kim Jong (the ‘Dear Leader’) took over the reins of power and [...] there was a general feeling that he wasn’t quite a chip off the old block; contrarily the general feeling was that he a few chips short of a casino bet [sic]. | |
| Player Profiles Womens’ XV TrojansRugby.co.uk 🌐 Hard as nails and several chips short of a butty. | |
| Chicago Trib. 14 Dec. 4/1: They have Ron Artest, who is a few chips short of the ante. | |
| profile at myspace.com About me: couple of chips short of a fish dinner, lift doesn’t reach the top floor, not the full cup of tea, out to lunch, wheel is turning but the hamster is dead. |
(Aus.) eccentric, foolish, simple-minded.
| in Tasmanian Hansard 21 Oct. n.p.: Too many politicians, especially those greenies, are [...] ‘a couple of tinnies short of a six pack’. | |
| ‘Aussie Sl.’ at www.spacetrekkers.fcpages.com 🌐 couple of tinnies short of a slab – short on brains. |
unintelligent, eccentric.
| [ | | Scotsman 26 Feb. 17/4: [advert] AN HONEST, STRAIGHTFORWARD, STURDY, TWENTY-SHILLINGS-TO-THE POUND JOB. AS BRITISH AS THE UNION JACK]. |
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | Till Human Voices Wake Us 147: He was barely six shillings in the pound. | |
| Gone Fishin’ 90: I now ‘have a few clues’. I think I am no longer ‘only eighteen bob in the pound’. | |
| Aussie Swearers Guide 44: Not the Full Quid [...] only ten bob in the pound [...] worthless. | |
| Lingo 127: There are [...] subtle gradations in the types of stupidity, thoughtlessness, hopelessness, incapacity and sheer ineptitude that may come in for verbal censure. A person may be: a few bob short of the pound. |
(Aus.) eccentric, crazy.
| in Australasian Express 6 July in DSUE (1984). | |
| Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 105/1: a few snags short at the barbie not quite right in the head. | |
| Sydney Morn. Herald 30 Jan. 205/1: A group that’s always looking pretty moronic — or at least one sausage short of a barbie . | |
| in Tasmanian Hansard 21 Oct. n.p.: Too many politicians, especially those greenies, are [...] ‘a couple of snags short of a barbie’. | |
| Diary of an Average Australian 16 Jan. [blog] But then, there’s also John Hurt as Caligula, looking physically healthier than his Elephant Man or Alien roles, but definitely a few snags short of a barbeque. | |
| Hartford Courant (CT) sect. D 5 Sept. 27/3: G’Day from Down Under [...] You septic tanks always have been a snag short of a barbie, when it comes to other cultures. | |
| Rachel 🌐 I took them [i.e. clothes] without a word and headed for the changing room. They treated me as if I were a few snags short of a barbie. | |
| Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 47: chop short of a barbie, a Mentally deficient. ANZ. | |
| Intractable [ebook] Billy Sutton may have had a few sausages short of a barbecue when he returned from Callan Park [asylum]. |
unintelligent, eccentric, mad.
| Celestial Reviews 18 Nov. 🌐 If you believe that, then you’re a few french fries short of a Happy Meal. | |
| Guardian G2 8 July 17: She was a few spring rolls short of a banquet. |
see under shilling n.
slightly insane, eccentric.
| Arizona republic (Phoenix, AZ) 13 Aug. 148/1: ‘In order to be a stunt man [...] you kinda gotta be one brick short of a load, you know’. | |
| N.Y. Times 15 Oct. n.p.: There was something about the boy that bothered me, nothing I could put my finger on, but, as my boy says, kind of one brick shy of a load [R]. | |
| Paco’s Story (1987) 80: He musta been a couple bricks short of a load, because he never figured out that the [...] Fair is run by a couple cops’ wives. | |
| Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 96/1: sandwich short of a picnic, a a brick short of a load. | |
| ‘Honkytonk Asshole’ in Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing (1995) 277: They think I’m one brick shy a load. | |
| St Louis Post-Dispatch (MS) 12 Sept. 43/2: The phrases ‘bats in your belfry’ and ‘going batty’ were coined to describe a person one brick short of a full load. | |
| Da Bomb 🌐 30: Two bricks shy of a load; Not all there. | |
| Humorplanet.com 🌐 ‘Unsubscribing from the Joke A Day List’: You’re nuts. You’re insane. You’re a few bricks short of a load. You’ve lost your marbles. The lights are on but nobody’s home. | |
| Robbers (2001) 131: World full of nuts. Some of them with guns, one brick short of a load. | |
| Desert Sun (Palm Springs, CA) 2 July 62/3: You’re almost never one brick short of a load. Know what I’m saying? |
not very intelligent, slightly eccentric, odd.
| Maledicta IX 93: He’s a sandwich short of a picnic. | |
| It Was An Accident 8: You got to be a sandwich short of a picnic, George. | |
| King of the Streets (1999) 170: He’s like mental, you know. Two sandwiches short of a picnic. | |
| Humorplanet.com 🌐 ‘Unsubscribing from the Joke A Day List’: You’re nuts. You’re insane. [...] You’re two biscuits short of a picnic. Your elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top floor. | |
| Grits 354: Nice feller, Paul, but a bit thick; sarnie short uv a picnic like. | |
| Observer Screen 13 Feb. 24: Bad enough to contain the line: ‘He’s a pork pie short of a picnic’. | |
| You Got Nothing Coming 192: My client is not just a sandwich short of a picnic, he’s a picnic short of a picnic. | |
| Raiders 254: Though Keith was technically mad he was one sandwich short of a picnic and a little slow on the uptake. | |
| Viva La Madness 383: Madness isn’t for kids [...] Isn’t one sandwich short of a picnic. | |
| ‘Chasing Atlantis’ in Crime Factory: Hard Labour [ebook] Nice kid [...] but half a sandwich short of a picnic if you know what I mean. | |
| Opal Country 93: ‘Stanley. Harmless. A couple of sandwiches short of a picnic’. | |
| Betoota-isms 266: Sharp as a Bowling Ball [...] 1. To lack intelligence or interpersonal skills [...] See also: A Few Sandwiches Short of a Picnic. | |
| Orphan Road 14: ‘Nice lady, great in the sack, but halk a sandwich short of [a] picnic’. |
(US teen) not very intelligent, slightly eccentric, odd.
| ‘Australian Sl. Phrases’, Jennifer’s Jibberish 🌐 Sausage Short of a barbecue ..... short of brains. |
mad, eccentric.
| Spectator (London) 22 Feb. 🌐 She goes for men who [...] fall in love with their insects, who build home-made rockets and who go busspotting; in short, men who reveal themselves to be one stop short of East Ham. Barking. | |
| Guardian 11 Jan. 2: We call him East Ham, because he’s one stop from Barking. | |
| posting at forums.fedoraforum.org 20 June 🌐 You might not understand the filesystem yet – but once you do, you’ll see why your current recommendations are one stop short of East Ham. |
not wholly sane.
| How Does Your Garden Grow Act III: I have had a rough trot, sir, all me miserable life, sir, and it’s left me about tuppence ha’penny short of the deener. |
not very intelligent, slightly eccentric, odd.
| ‘Iraq’s Crazy Uncle’ on Daily Standard 🌐 Or is he certifiable, driving-with-one’s-lights-on-dim, two-pence-short-of-a-bob crazy? |
(US) not very intelligent, slightly eccentric, odd.
| Wash. Post 30 July A1: He told the nominee to expect ‘loose facts, nastiness, hype, hoorah, maybe a little bit of hysteria’ and to ‘be prepared to hear himself described as a racist, extremist, trampler of the poor, assassin of the First Amendment...and a crazed young law clerk who was about two tacos short of a combination plate.’. | |
| in Wash. Post 23 Feb. A18: As we say in Wyoming, their reporting is about two tacos short of a combination plate. | |
| see sense 1 |
not very intelligent, slightly eccentric, odd.
| Independent 14 July 🌐 They are visited by a priest who warns them that Satan patrols this patch of land – though the priest seems a few wafers short of a communion, so this news may or may not be true. | |
| Pompey 269: He was a couple of wafers short of a communion (if you ask me, May Butt). | |
| posting at p201.ezboard.com 24 Mar. 🌐 yeah i think she has a tile loose, [...] is two wafers short of a communion, the wheel is turning but the hamsters dead, to put it bluntly, theres a kangaroo loose in the top paddock. | |
| Times 3 July 🌐 One may very well wonder how a man who is clearly a few wafers short of a communion ever got to occupy such an exalted position. |