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The meaning and origin of the expression: Not playing with a full deck

Not playing with a full deck

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What's the meaning of the phrase 'Not playing with a full deck'?

'Not playing with a full deck' might be said about someone who was considered stupid.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Not playing with a full deck'?

This is one of the many derogatory phrases that emerged in the latter half of the 20th century which allude to someone 'having a bit missing', 'not all there' etc. The implication being that the victim of the jocular insult lacked a portion of their brain. In this case the deck is of course a deck of cards. Anyone 'not playing with a full deck' wouldn't be expected to make much of a fist of card playing. The first example that I can find of the phrase is in a George Carlin comedy routine about a member of the Ku Klux Klan, on the Merv Griffin show in 1965.

Other common 'missing' phrases are:

- Doesn't have both oars in the water.
- One sandwich short of a picnic.
- The light's on but no one's at home.
- A few bricks short of a full load.

Gary Martin - the author of the phrases.org.uk website.

By Gary Martin

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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