dead from the neck up
Also found in: Acronyms.
dead from the neck up
Stupid. Did I just say that two plus two equals five? Wow, I'm dead from the neck up today.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
dead from the neck up
1. Fig. stupid. (With a "dead" head.) She acts like she is dead from the neck up.
2. Fig. no longer open to new ideas. Everyone on the board of directors is dead from the neck up.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
dead from the neck up
Extremely stupid, as in That news commentator sounds dead from the neck up. This expression alludes to being "brain-dead." [Early 1900s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
dead from the neck up
BRITISH, INFORMALIf you say that someone is dead from the neck up, you are saying very rudely that they are stupid. Yes, he's good-looking, but he's dead from the neck up.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
dead from the neck (or chin) up
stupid. informal 1990 Film Comment Steward subscribes to the notion that all women are ‘nitwits and lunkheads, dead from the neck up’.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
dead from the neck up
1. mod. stupid. (With a dead head.) She acts like she is dead from the neck up.
2. mod. no longer open to new ideas. Everyone on the board of directors is dead from the neck up.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
dead from the neck up
Extremely stupid. This slangy metaphor was first recorded in 1911. John Dos Passos used it in Forty-second Parallel (1930): “Most of the inhabitants are dead from the neck up.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer