Not the full quid

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Meaning

Not very intelligent, sensible or fully aware of what is happening. Derogatory and potentially ableist when applied to a person. The variants are related Australian shortage idioms rather than exact grammatical substitutions. Regional use: Australia.

Origin

Quid is a long-standing informal word for a pound, formerly a pound note or coin in the relevant Australian imagery. The phrase treats sound judgement as a complete monetary amount and suggests that something is missing. It belongs to a large Australian family of shortage comparisons, but an exact first coinage has not been securely identified.

Variants

  • A few bob short of a quid
  • Not the full bottle
  • A sandwich short of a picnic
  • A few roos loose in the top paddock

Usage Examples

  • Anyone who feeds a wild crocodile is not the full quid.
  • The neighbours thought the inventor was a few bob short of a quid until his machine worked.

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