few sandwiches short of a picnic

English

Pronunciation

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Phrase

a few sandwiches short of a picnic

1. (idiomatic) Exhibiting disquiet or unsoundness of mind; not sane; mad.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:insane

   I think the lady down the road is a few sandwiches short of a picnic—you often hear strange bangings at odd hours in the morning.

   • 2013, A. American, Surviving Home, Penguin, →ISBN, page 238:

     He said to hang on, then went to his bike and came back with a black case. When he opened it I suddenly thought I was dealing with someone a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

   • 2014, Sheila Connolly, Scandal in Skibbereen, Penguin, →ISBN, page 216:

     “He was a nice fellow, but we all know he was a few sandwiches short of a picnic.”

Synonyms

• See Appendix:Snowclones/few X short of a Y

Translations

Not sane

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 神志不清 (zh) (shénzhì bùqīng)

• Czech: šplouchat někomu na maják
• German: nicht alle Tassen im Schrank haben (de)
• Italian: essere fuori di testa
• Polish: nie mieć wszystkich w domu (pl)
• Russian: не все до́ма (ru) (ne vse dóma, literally “not everyone is ar home”), винтика в голове не хватает (vintika v golove ne xvatajet, literally “one bolt on one's head is missing”), куку́хой пое́хавший m (kukúxoj pojéxavšij, literally “(one has) the head having driven away”) (slang), ша́рики за ро́лики зае́хали (šáriki za róliki zajéxali, literally “balls rolled over casters”) (slang)
• Spanish: faltarle un hervor