# Not the brightest bulb in the box



## mersplace

Hello Forum,

Will you please help me with this phrase? 
We say this to our good friends/family when they have done something unexpectedly silly:

He/she is "not the brightest bulb in the box". 

My try: pas de ampoule de brilliant en le boite

I cant find a word for 'brightest'.. 

Appreciate your help, thank you!


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## CARNESECCHI

Hello,
It's like the knife in the drawer, same structure :
"ce n'est pas l'ampoule la plus brillante/lumineuse de la boîte"
Hope it helps


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## Gil

He's a dim bulb => Ce n'est pas une 100 watts...


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## anangelaway

Bonjour !

Would this be an equivlent: 
_'Il/Elle a pas inventé la poudre à canon...'_?


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## Cath.S.

anangelaway said:
			
		

> Bonjour !
> 
> Would this be an equivlent:
> _'Il/Elle a pas inventé la poudre à canon...'_?


... ni _le fil à couper le beurre_.
Ni même _l'eau chaude_ !


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## timpeac

Not the xxxxest yyyy in the zzz is a forumula that will be understood pretty much whatever the combination of x y and z to mean "a bit dim".

This is an interesting situation because we effectively have a syntactic structure with innate meaning (quite unusual - no?) Do you have a similar situation in French? If someone said "ce n'est pas la pomme la plus croquante dans le panier" (just to invent a random phrase) would the meaning be understood? If so I'd go for a word for word translation, if not then a set-phrase that means dim.

P.s. I've personally not seen this particular combination of x y and z before in the original English.


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## zam

anangelaway said:
			
		

> Bonjour !
> 
> Would this be an equivlent:
> _'Il/Elle a pas inventé la poudre à canon...'_?


 
 , approx: '(s)he is not a/the full shilling' !


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## anangelaway

timpeac said:
			
		

> Do you have a similar situation in French? If someone said "ce n'est pas la pomme la plus croquante dans le panier" (just to invent a random phrase) would the meaning be understood?


 
Hi Tim! It you say to me 'il/elle n'est pas la pomme la plus croquante dans le panier', mmmm... Yes, I might understand it, before the apéro for sure.


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## timpeac

anangelaway said:
			
		

> Hi Tim! It you say to me 'il/elle n'est pas la pomme la plus croquante dans le panier', mmmm... Yes, I might understand it, before the apéro for sure.


Ah! I got the "ce" wrong then? It must be "il" or "elle"?


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## webfeet

round here you often here "c'est pas une lumière" but you've got to say it with the right intonation.


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## anangelaway

timpeac said:
			
		

> Ah! I got the "ce" wrong then? It must be "il" or "elle"?


 
Non, pas du tout. The only difference I can think of is in a context such as :
If I haven't follow the conversation, I would understand _il/elle_ as I would somehow guess you're talking about someone in particular. As for _ce n'est/c'est pas_, if in the same situation, I may not get it right away.


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## Cath.S.

> If someone said "ce n'est pas la pomme la plus croquante dans le panier" (just to invent a random phrase) would the meaning be understood?


Il faudrait faire un sondage mais je ne crois pas que la majorité des gens, qui est assez conformiste en ce qui concerne les idiomes, comprendrait du premier coup. 
Je viens de faire un test (sur Bernie, mon compagnon ) et il a compris « ce n'est pas celle qui a le plus de personnalité ».


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## Sanda

egueule said:
			
		

> Il faudrait faire un sondage mais je ne crois pas que la majorité des gens, qui est assez conformiste en ce qui concerne les idiomes, comprendrait du premier coup.
> Je viens de faire un test (sur Bernie, mon compagnon ) et il a compris « ce n'est pas celle qui a le plus de personnalité ».



I agree.

Et si on jetait les pommes et qu'on gardait le panier ? On pourrait chercher du côté de l'expression le haut du panier. Mais déjà je sens que ça ne va pas.
On ne dit pas de quelqu'un : c'est pas le haut du panier.
Bon, ça donnera peut-être une idée à quelqu'un pour rebondir.


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## texasweed

egueule said:
			
		

> Il faudrait faire un sondage mais je ne crois pas que la majorité des gens, qui est assez conformiste en ce qui concerne les idiomes, comprendrait du premier coup.
> Je viens de faire un test (sur Bernie, mon compagnon ) et il a compris « ce n'est pas celle qui a le plus de personnalité ».


 
Sondage ultra génial ! As a female, and I assume gender is important for your sondage,  I simply understood : She's not the most *attractive* of the lot.

Not the brightest bulb in the box (never heard it before but I love it !) is more obvious to me.


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## timpeac

Hi - just to be clear - I was never suggesting "ce n'est pas la pomme..." as a translation. I haven't heard of the "not the brightest bulb in the box" idiom and so, at first sight, I was dubious about translating it with a set-phrase in French (I think that in general we should translate new phrases with new phrases). However, on reflection, I felt that the very structure of the English phrase gave it its meaning so it was a de facto set-phrase, even if these precise nouns have never been used together before. (If I said "he's not the sharpest tooth-pick in the bathroom", to invent a phrase for example in English, you'd assume I meant he was dim - right?)

So, thanks to Egueule's sondage en famille, confirming that the structure itself wouldn't carry the meaning in French I agree that an existing set-phrase is the best option.


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## french4beth

Another English equivalent: "He's not the sharpest tool in the shed."


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## marget

french4beth said:
			
		

> Another English equivalent: "He's not the sharpest tool in the shed."


Also not the brightest star in the constellation.


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## Cath.S.

timpeac said:
			
		

> Hi - just to be clear - I was never suggesting "ce n'est pas la pomme..." as a translation. I haven't heard of the "not the brightest bulb in the box" idiom and so, at first sight, I was dubious about translating it with a set-phrase in French (I think that in general we should translate new phrases with new phrases). However, on reflection, I felt that the very structure of the English phrase gave it its meaning so it was a de facto set-phrase, even if these precise nouns have never been used together before. (If I said "he's not the sharpest tooth-pick in the bathroom", to invent a phrase for example in English, you'd assume I meant he was dim - right?)
> 
> So, thanks to Egueule's sondage en famille, confirming that the structure itself wouldn't carry the meaning in French I agree that an existing set-phrase is the best option.


Or else we can make up new sayings based on the French structure:
_il/elle n'a pas inventé le_ whatever.


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## timpeac

egueule said:
			
		

> Or else we can make up new sayings based on the French structure:
> _il/elle n'a pas inventé le_ whatever.


Ce n'est pas elle qui n'a pas inventé la poudre à canon celle-là !


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## Cath.S.

timpeac said:
			
		

> Ce n'est pas elle qui n'a pas inventé la poudre à canon celle-là !


!D
Mais ce n'est pas elle qui l'a inventée non plus !


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## polaire

french4beth said:
			
		

> Another English equivalent: "He's not the sharpest tool in the shed."



Or . . .not the sharpest blade/knife in the drawer/pack/rack.


The only French expression I've ever heard for not being too bright was "Il n'a pas inventé le fil pour couper le beurre."

I assume there's no separate expression for:

"He's not a rocket scientist." or
"He's not a brain surgeon."

And once, as a joke, I heard, "He's not a rocket surgeon."


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## mersplace

I am really enjoying your dialogue!
There are many, many of these idioms here:

His ducks aren't all in a row.
Her elevator doesn't reach the top floors.
She is stuck on spin cycle/She is a spin bin.
He is a few pickles short of a barrel.
She hasn't watered her garden lately.
She is only running on 3 cylinders.
Her springs are shot.

Thank you all for your help!!


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## french4beth

Also:
She's stuck on the fluff cycle (motor is running, but no heat).
She's a few cards short of a full deck.
His elevator doesn't go to the top floor.
He's got bats in the belfry.


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## Sanda

mersplace said:
			
		

> I am really enjoying your dialogue!
> There are many, many of these idioms here:
> 
> His ducks aren't all in a row.
> Her elevator doesn't reach the top floors.
> She is stuck on spin cycle/She is a spin bin.
> He is a few pickles short of a barrel.
> She hasn't watered her garden lately.
> She is only running on 3 cylinders.
> Her springs are shot.
> 
> Thank you all for your help!!



I love it too, am having a great time  

But I always want more  

Could you please tell me which of these are typically Canadian? Or are they all used in America and Britain as well?

I'd also like to know whether the examples with "he" or "she" were chosen at random, or whether some expressions come to be used only with men while others are applied only to women?


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## KaRiNe_Fr

timpeac said:
			
		

> Hi - just to be clear - I was never suggesting "ce n'est pas la pomme..." as a translation. I haven't heard of the "not the brightest bulb in the box" idiom and so, at first sight, I was dubious about translating it with a set-phrase in French (I think that in general we should translate new phrases with new phrases). However, on reflection, I felt that the very structure of the English phrase gave it its meaning so it was a de facto set-phrase, even if these precise nouns have never been used together before. (If I said "he's not the sharpest tooth-pick in the bathroom", to invent a phrase for example in English, you'd assume I meant he was dim - right?)
> 
> So, thanks to Egueule's sondage en famille, confirming that the structure itself wouldn't carry the meaning in French I agree that an existing set-phrase is the best option.


I think your guess was right about the structure allowing to get the meaning of the phrase. It's only the adjective you used which meaning for a person is not obvious. "croquante" sounds like "craquante" but it's not the same word. Maybe you would be understood by anybody else (even by Bernie !  ) if you used merely "belle" for your apple. Don't you think so?


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## Sanda

french4beth said:
			
		

> Also:
> She's stuck on the fluff cycle (motor is running, but no heat).
> She's a few cards short of a full deck.
> His elevator doesn't go to the top floor.
> He's got bats in the belfry.



Me again, with the same questions... Are these also used in Canada and Britain?

Puzzled over "he's got a bat in the belfry": doesn't that mean that there is something wrong with him, that he's slightly insane?

Makes me think of avoir une araignée au plafond (il a une araignée au plafond).

I see a difference between c'est pas une lumière (he's not very clever) and il a une araignée au plafond (he's slightly lunatic); am I being too fussy?

Others of the kind (slightly lunatic):
Il ne tourne pas rond
Ça ne tourne pas rond dans sa tête
Il lui manque une case
...

The examples with "he" only: I was being an unfair female  , no harm intended, though.


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## Cath.S.

> I see a difference between c'est pas une lumière (he's not very clever) and il a une araignée au plafond (he's slightly lunatic); am I being too fussy?


Salut Sanda, 

à mon avis non, tu ne pinailles pas du tout : quelqu'un peut avoir un QI de 160 _et_ une araignée au plafond, donc ta remarque me semble parfaitement justifiée.


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## CARNESECCHI

Donc il/elle aurait
Une araignée dans le plafond, des chauves-souris dans le beffroi, une ampoule un peu faiblarde, un couteau émoussé, le tout ne tournant pas rond sur trois cylindres, puisqu'il manque une case !
Prévert ou Vian auraient aimé!!!


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## sioban

Personnellement j'aime beaucoup : 
Il a pas inventé la machine à courber les bananes!
Il a pas inventé l'eau tiède!


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## geve

sioban said:
			
		

> Personnellement j'aime beaucoup :
> Il a pas inventé la machine à courber les bananes!
> Il a pas inventé l'eau tiède!


 ma préférence à moi !!
Je me disais justement que la suggestion d'egueule


			
				egueule said:
			
		

> Or else we can make up new sayings based on the French structure:
> _il/elle n'a pas inventé le_ whatever.


me paraissait bien adaptée ici, étant donné que la phrase anglaise d'origine n'est pas une expression figée.


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## KaRiNe_Fr

Puisqu'on en est aux expressions imagées, y'en a une que j'aime bien, traduite du corse :
 "il est même pas capable de faire un O avec son cul !"


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## CARNESECCHI

hello,
"le temps qu'il comprenne on pourrait tuer un âne a coups de figues molles"
Astérix en Corse!


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## KaRiNe_Fr

CARNESECCHI said:
			
		

> hello,
> "le temps qu'il comprenne on pourrait tuer un âne a coups de figues molles"
> Astérix en Corse!


Avec celle là on dit aussi "à coups de papier à cigarettes" 
(et c'est pas corse du tout)


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## Vinh

timpeac said:
			
		

> "ce n'est pas la pomme la plus croquante dans le panier" (just to invent a random phrase).



If you don't mind i will use that one, i found the metaphor pretty sweet.
It rings well too. You can turn it into a winner line if you positive it :

"tu es la pomme la plus croquante du panier !", (need some humor there)

The apple is a strong symbol for sin. And that s the point of a line no ?

Sorry for the digression.


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