all brawn and no brain
Meaning: Physically strong but not clever.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “He carried the whole sofa alone and up the wrong stairs: all brawn and no brain.”
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: "Brawn" is muscle, from an Old French word for a cut of meat. The rhyming pairing with "brain" is common in English from the 20th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- Russian: сила есть — ума не надо (sila yest — uma ne nado) — literally: strength exists — mind is not needed
More idioms — Body & Senses
- until one is blue in the face — For as long as one likes, with no result.
- take matters into one's own hands — To act oneself because others have failed to.
- all in one's head — Imagined rather than real, or a matter of attitude.
- stink to high heaven — To smell terrible; also, to seem very dishonest.
- dig one's heels in — To refuse stubbornly to change one's mind.
- the scales fall from one's eyes — To suddenly see the truth after being deceived.
More English idioms
- hide one's light under a bushel — To keep one's talents hidden.
- charity begins at home — One's first duty is to one's own family.
- two men and a dog — A very small crowd.
- has the cat got your tongue? — Said to someone who stays silent when they should speak.
- a load of nonsense — Something completely untrue or silly.
- all or nothing — With no middle way; everything is risked on one outcome.
From our compliments & insults
- Eline sağlık — Praise and thanks to someone — especially a cook — for something made beautifully by hand.
- És uma joia — You're a gem — a precious, lovely person.
- Sei un salame — You're a clumsy, dopey softie — said with a smile.