Timeline for Why "short of a six pack" means someone is stupid or missing common sense?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
12 events
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| Jul 10, 2020 at 6:55 | comment | added | Snowy Oz | @CoderInNetwork - yes it's quite common, maybe it's colloquial in some Anglo dialects - but esp in Australia it's common. Maybe an old one is "have a screw loose"? You can also have fun with it, "he's about 6 cans short of a 6-pack". And yes, "short" means "missing" - maybe from "short of the mark/target"?. | |
| Jul 10, 2020 at 4:57 | comment | added | CoderInNetwork | I never heard of this idiom, is it actually a common phrase? | |
| Jul 10, 2020 at 2:22 | answer | added | Dean F. | timeline score: 0 | |
| Jul 9, 2020 at 22:34 | answer | added | Alejandro | timeline score: -6 | |
| Mar 14, 2016 at 15:50 | vote | accept | Sayalic | ||
| Mar 14, 2016 at 14:45 | answer | added | Hellion | timeline score: 5 | |
| Mar 14, 2016 at 14:40 | answer | added | TimR | timeline score: 6 | |
| Mar 14, 2016 at 14:27 | comment | added | John Clifford | "short of" could theoretically be grammatically replaced with "missing from". (also note that it's generally used as an adjective phrase rather than a noun; you wouldn't say "Look at that two cans short of a six-pack" but would instead say "That guy is two cans short of a sick-pack.") | |
| Mar 14, 2016 at 14:26 | comment | added | John Clifford | If you are "short of" something, it means that you should have it but don't. Like if I bought something costing £3 and I only had £2.54, I'd be short 46 pence. | |
| Mar 14, 2016 at 14:25 | comment | added | Sayalic |
@JohnClifford What is the meaning of short here? lack of something?
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| Mar 14, 2016 at 14:22 | comment | added | John Clifford | I think the common link between all of the idioms with this meaning is the idea of something whole having some parts missing: "two cans short of a six-pack", "three sandwiches short of a picnic", "two jokers short of a deck". etc. | |
| Mar 14, 2016 at 14:21 | history | asked | Sayalic | CC BY-SA 3.0 |