說人笨一定會激怒人。特別在辦公室裡,小心為妙。英文裡有很多的euphemism(委婉說法),不必直接用 dumb,stupid。
"Not the brightest bulb"直譯 "並非最亮的燈泡 "。這句話就曾出現在電影《超人特攻隊》裡:Thunderhead was not the brightest bulb。
雷風俠不是最聰明的,這樣說多拗口!
"Not the brightest bulb"是美國人愛用的片語,說穿了就是──笨!
有個賊票選為2007十大笨賊之一,因為他偷東西的時候沒看到穿制服的警察就站旁邊,那警察就用"My guess is he's just not the brightest of people."來嘲弄他一番。
有時候聽了同事之間誰說了愚蠢的話或做了愚蠢的事後,也會互相揶揄來一句"You are not the brightest bulb, are you?"。
經典例子是1995年的美國小姐Heather Whitestone在選美的Q&A:
Q: If you could live forever, would you and why?
A: I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever. But we can not live forever, which is why I would not live forever.
電視機前的觀眾笑翻了: She's not the brightest bulb, is she?
除了"bulb"以外,"knife","star","pencil"和"crayon"也有異曲同工之妙。說成"not the sharpest the knife in the cabinet / not the sharpest pencil in the box / not the brightest crayon in the box/ not the brightest star in the sky"。 除了brightest之外,我也聽過美國同事說,I know he is not the smartest person in the world, but......。
三個月英文脫胎換骨的一對一:https://www.core-corner.com/Web/ServiceList.php