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Igor
What's the meaning of "...who's a penny short of a pound "?
"...The journalists, bombarding everyone with their stupid question, from Ruth Trethewey right down to Slow-and-Lucky who's a penny short of a pound and walks his dog all day, the dog as daft as Lucky is..."
Is the meaning of it "Slow-and-Lucky who's an oddball"?
Dec 19, 2016 5:47 PM
Answers · 11
1
It means that this person is lacking in intelligence/simple-minded, with the suggestion that he may also have slight mental problems. The clue is in the word 'Slow' and it's also in the reference to the dog, who is 'as daft as Lucky is'.
In British English we have many expressions along the lines of 'a penny short of a pound' which are euphemisms for mental deficiency. 'Not a full shilling' is one, also related to money, and there are many others, such as 'a few sandwiches short of a picnic', which suggest that the person in question may not have a full complement of working brain cells. These expressions are rather politically incorrect, but can be amusing and imaginative.
December 19, 2016
1
Meaning not very smart.
Also...
A sandwich short of a picnic.
Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
A few cards short of a full deck.
etc,etc.
December 19, 2016
"A penny short of a pound" means that Slow-and-lucky is stupid, or not very intelligent in some way. So you could also write:
"Slow-and-lucky, who is stupid...".
The word "daft" at the end of the sentence also means "stupid". I hope I could help :)
December 19, 2016
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Igor
Language Skills
English, French, Japanese, Russian
Learning Language
English, French
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