not the sharpest tool in the shed
Meaning: Not very intelligent.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “He's sweet, but not the sharpest tool in the shed.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: A late 20th-century joke, one of many variants like "not the brightest bulb" or "not the sharpest knife in the drawer."
Equivalents in other languages
- French: Être une lumière — literally: To be a light
More idioms — Daily Life
- since time immemorial — For longer than anyone can remember.
- much ado about nothing — A lot of fuss about something unimportant.
- have one's work cut out — To face a difficult task.
- mum's the word — Keep this secret; say nothing.
- search me — I don't know.
- be rolling in it — To be very rich.
More English idioms
- the honeymoon period — The early, happy stage of a new relationship or arrangement, before problems appear.
- for donkey's years — For a very long time.
- cry one's eyes out — To cry very hard and for a long time.
- make sheep's eyes at — To look at someone in a lovesick, foolish way (dated).
- you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar — Kindness persuades people better than harshness.
- a rare bird — An unusual person or thing.
From our untranslatable words
- Drachenfutter — A peace-offering gift brought home to a partner after staying out too late or doing somet…
- Verschlimmbessern — To make something worse in a well-intentioned attempt to improve it.
- Sturmfrei — The liberating feeling of having the house entirely to yourself — when parents or a partn…