# A comparison for someone stupid



## rusita preciosa

What word do you use in your language to compare a stupid person to?
*dumber than XXX* or *dumb as XXX*

English: *dumber than a post*
Russian: *тупой как баран* /tupoy kak baran/ - dumb as a ram


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## jazyk

Something we say in Brazil is that someone is _mais burro que uma porta_ (dumber than a door) or even simply say that they are_ uma porta._


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## Tamar

In Hebrew it's נעל  na'al, a shoe. I would someone is dumber than a shoe, but I wouldn't say "as dumb as a shoe" but "as smart as a shoe". 
Or like in Portuguese, we just say "he/she is a shoe".


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## ThomasK

As a backdoor, I think in Dutch: _*als een achterdeur*_. 

But *een kalf*/ a calf is supposed to be stupid too, even its mother, *de koe,* and certainly its behind: *zo dom als het achtereind van een koe -* or that of a pig *(een varken)*. 
Or as dumb as a donkey (*een ezel*).  But Dutch-speaking geese do not seem to be very intelligent either: *dom als een gans. *


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## Bigote Blanco

dumb as a post


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## Juri

In TRrieste : stupido come la moglie del carabiniere(as the wife of cop)


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## sakvaka

In *Finnish*: _tyhmä kuin saapas_ - dumb as a boot (shoe)


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## enoo

In *French*: 
Bête comme un âne. -  Stupid as a donkey.
Bête comme ses pieds. - Stupid as his/her feet.
Bête comme une oie. - Stupid as a goose. (I never heard that one, but it seems to exist)


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## ThomasK

By the way: I think we ought to keep this thread running as the 'basis for negative judgment' is always present and is a everlasting source of inspiration (permanently 'renewable'..), due to strong human emotion. I would be interested in reading about other, historical variants for example, that no longer seem to work... 

[There is a parallel with the variants of the intensifier 'very' (see other thread): strong feelings are an 'eternal' source of renewed inspiration. ]


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## Encolpius

Hello, *in Hungarian* we say: _buta, mint a sötét éjszaka_ [dumb as the dark night] or _buta, mint a tö_k [dumb as pumpkin] and do not ask me why.


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## sokol

In Austria we use:

Dumm wie ein Esel = donkey
Dumme Kuh, Gans = cow, goose (note, _not_ used with "wie ein"! but it is still interesting that the same animals are used as in some other languages)

We can also say (but it is not that widespread):

Dumm wie die Nacht = dumb as the night is dark


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## MOC

In Portugal, we say "X é burro que nem uma porta" which literally means not even a door would be as dumb as X.


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## Hakro

sakvaka said:


> In *Finnish*: _tyhmä kuin saapas_ - dumb as a boot (shoe)


If this is not enough, you can add some adjectives:
_tyhmä kuin lapinsaapas_ - dumb as a Lapponian boot
_tyhmä kuin talonpojan saapas_ - dumb as a peasant's boot
_tyhmä kuin vasemman jalan saapas_ - dumb as a left foot's boot
_tyhmä kuin ryssän saapas_ - dumb as a Russian boot

Then there are other possibilities:
_tyhmä kuin aasi_ - dumb as a donkey (obviously an international loan, there are no donkeys in Finland)
_tyhmä kuin pässi_ - dumb as a ram
_tyhmä kuin pässin pää_ - dumb as a ram's head
_tyhmä kuin lammas_ - dumb as a sheep
_tyhmä kuin moukan ruuna_ - dumb as a peasant's gelding
_tyhmä kuin töppösen lesti_ - dumb as a shoetree (a wooden piece, formed like a foot, for making shoes)
_tyhmä kuin jäältä tullu hämäläinen_ - dumb as a Hämean person coming from a frozen lake (Häme = a province in central Finland)


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## Frank06

ThomasK said:


> As a backdoor, I think in Dutch: _*als een achterdeur*_.


I never heard this in the context of refering to a stupid person.

Frank


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## ThomasK

Try Google, Frank! But OK, I forgive you: it ought to be "zo zot als een achterdeur", which along with a perfect alliteration is very common in the Far West of Belgium, i.e., in West Flemish. (I was trying to introduce it into standard Dutch)


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## apmoy70

In Greek:
The one that comes to my mind is «τούβλο» (t*u*vlo, _n._), "brick"; stupid as a brick


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## rusita preciosa

Completely by coincidence, yesterday I heard:
*dumber than a bag of rocks* (AE)


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## Nizo

A couple of expressions in *Esperanto* are _stulta kiel ansero_ (as dumb as a goose) or _stulta kiel ŝafo_ (as dumb as a sheep).


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## KalAlbè

One of my favorites in English: _To be as dumb as a bag of rocks_

Haitian Creole:_ Sòt pase yon panyen pèsi._
Literally:_ Dumber than a bunch of parsley_


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## Dymn

In *Catalan* _curt _(lit. "short"), can also mean "dumb" metaphorically, and the other day I learned the sentence: _ets més curt que el mes de febrer _("you're shorter than the month of February").


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## Messquito

In Chinese, stupidity is easily linked to pigs (although in reality, they might be smarter than dogs).
We refer to stupid people as 笨豬(ben4zhu1), lit. stupid pigs.
Saying 跟豬一樣笨(as stupid as a pig) or 比豬還笨(be stupider than a pig) would make sense in Chinese, and is what I would expect when a comparison was to be made.


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## Stoggler

rusita preciosa said:


> What word do you use in your language to compare a stupid person to?
> *dumber than XXX* or *dumb as XXX*



Although you do hear the word ‘dumb’ in British English in this context, you’re more likely to hear ‘thick’ instead.

‘Thick as two short planks’ is a phrase that I’ve heard over the years, although it might be a bit tired and old now (a bit like me then!).


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## AndrasBP

To get a bit more vulgar, Hungarians often say

_hülye, mint a segg_ (=stupid as an arse) or
_hülye, mint a seggem_ (=stupid as _my_ arse)!


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## Dymn

In *Spanish*, there's also _eres más tonto que las piedras_ ("you're dumber than rocks"). The animal symbol of dumbness is definitely the donkey, so _burro _alone can mean "dumb".


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## AndrasBP

Dymn said:


> The animal symbol of dumbness is definitely the donkey


Which is also a Catalan symbol, right?


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## Dymn

Yeah


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## bibax

Czech:

*blbý jako pučtok* = stupid as a cleaning rod (maybe somewhat obsolete, my granny used to say it);

pučtok _colloq._ < der Putzstock (Germ.) = cleaning rod;

*míti IQ houpacího koně* = to have an IQ of a rocking horse (quite a current saying);


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## Olaszinhok

*Italian:
essere un allocco* - to be a tawny owl - to be stupid  *Fare la figura dell'allocco* - to look like a fool
*essere un barbagianni* - to be a barn owl - to be stupid

*essere un merlo - *to be a black bird - to be stupid - to look like a fool

*essere un baccalà* - to be a salted codfish - to be stupid

The donkey is not stupid in Italian but stubborn - *essere testardi/cocciuti come un asino/somaro* - to be as stubborn as a donkey.


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## Penyafort

I'd say one of the most used in Catalan is *més ruc que una sabata* (literally, _more donkey than a shoe_). Both _ruc _(donkey) and _sabata _(shoe) already mean 'dumb', so in a way it's double dumbness.


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## Sardokan1.0

*Sardinian :*


_Tontu pedrale (stupid like a stone | pedrale is an adjective derived from "pedra" = stone)_
_Tontu que napa (stupid like a turnip)_
_Tontu que s'àinu molente (àinu = donkey; molente = it was the donkey used to move the millstone = "mola" in Latin and Sardinian)_
_Istruidu que sos caddos birdes (educated like the green horses)_


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## KalAlbè

Other variations I've heard in English:

_To be as dumb as a bag of hammers
To be as dumb as an ox_

In Portuguese I've also heard:

_Burro feito um jumento_ - As dumb as a donkey


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## TheCrociato91

Olaszinhok said:


> The donkey is not stupid in Italian but stubborn - *essere testardi/cocciuti come un asino/somaro* - to be as stubborn as a donkey.



I don't completely agree with you there. For instance, if I say: "Sei un somaro / asino!" ("You're a donkey!"), I'm definitely telling that person that he / she is indeed stupid.

Another metaphor (or simile, I guess) I've heard / seen used is: "stupido come una capra / una gallina" ("as dumb as a goat / a hen")


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## Olaszinhok

TheCrociato91 said:


> I don't completely agree with you there. For instance, if I say: "Sei un somaro / asino!" ("You're a donkey!"), I'm definitely telling that person that he / she is indeed stupid.



I would translate your sentence into you're a dunce, clod, ignorant, slacker rather than stupid, dumb or  dummy. *A scuola ero un asino/somaro* I was lazy and slacker at school. I mean not necessarily dumb or stupid but lazy, slow, slacker.
Your interpretation may be also correct, though.



TheCrociato91 said:


> Another metaphor (or simile, I guess) I've heard / seen used is: "stupido come una capra / una gallina" ("as dumb as a goat / a hen")



I would also add oca - goose _è un'oca_ she is as stupid as a goose. If she's pretty and stupid also bimbo. she's a bimbo -_ è un'oca._


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## TheCrociato91

Olaszinhok said:


> I would translate your sentence into you're a dunce, clod, ignorant, slacker rather than stupid, dumb or dummy.



Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see how those terms would mean anything different from "stupid, dumb or dummy", since (all from English Dictionary, Thesaurus, & grammar help | Oxford Dictionaries):

dunce = a person who is slow at learning; a _stupid _person.
clod = a _stupid _person.
slow = not prompt to understand, think, or learn; obtuse, _stupid_.
asino = persona _ignorante_, _sciocca _o rozza.


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## Olaszinhok

TheCrociato91 said:


> Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see how those terms would mean anything different from "stupid, dumb or dummy", since (all from English Dictionary, Thesaurus, & grammar help | Oxford Dictionaries):
> 
> dunce = a person who is slow at learning; a _stupid _person.
> clod = a _stupid _person.
> slow = not prompt to understand, think, or learn; obtuse, _stupid_.
> asino = persona _ignorante_, _sciocca _o rozza.



You're right, but in my opinion there's still a difference between_ ignorante and sciocco_, let alone_ rozzo,_ at least in Italian. Unfortunately, I have not been able to be clearer in English, It doesn't matter, though.


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