Phrase: smart as a box of rocks (1982 Nov 3) dumb as a box of rocks (1973 Oct 29)

[Garson O'Toole]

 David Barnhart wrote
> I just heard something I may have heard quite some time ago.  Any leads
> on who first used it would be gratefully received:
>
> "Smart as a box of rocks".

Below is an instance of "smart as a box of rocks" in 1982. The variant
"dumb as a box of rocks" appears earlier with an instance in 1973. The
phrase "dumber than a box of rocks" appears in 1976 applied to the
popular songstress Bette Midler. The descriptor "smart as a box of
kitty litter" is applied to some men in the workplace in 1978.

UrbanDictionary has "box of rocks", "a box of rocks", and "dumber than
a box of rocks" starting in 2005.

Cite: 1982 November 3, Tri City Herald, Tri-city Seahawk Fans Feel A
Proven Coach Is Necessary by Hec Hancock, Page B14, Washington.
(Google News archive)

"The worst thing they could do would be to promote somebody from the
staff. I remember Jerry Rhome from when he played for Tulsa and I
think he's about as smart as a box of rocks."


Cite: 1973 October 29, Sheboygan Press, "Et Tu Brutus!" by Ed
Hou-Seye, Page 12, Column 1, Sheboygan, Wisconsin. (NewspaperArchive)

Dumb as a box of rocks, the cattle brains of the public, minus any
thinking ability, reacted exactly as the media expected. Give them a
weed to smoke, a ball to chase, a statue to worship and an object to
hate, and you can lead the majority right down the path to perdition.


Cite: 1976 January 18, Chicago Tribune, Bette Midler: A little less
than 'Divine' by Joan Zyda, Page E4, Chicago, Illinois. (ProQuest)

Midler seemed dumber than a box of rocks. Or maybe it's all a put-on.
Or maybe she got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.


Cite: 1978 August 6, Chicago Tribune, Why women hesitate to succeed in
business by Carol Kleiman, Page E6. Chicago, Illinois. (ProQuest)

"Women are very competent, very smart. They do a brilliant job. Most
of them are surrounded by men who are as smart as a box of kitty
litter. But who gets promoted?"


On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 10:58 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: VERY GRAPHIC IMAGERY
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Google Books
>
> On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 10:13 PM, David Barnhart
> <dbarnhart at highlands.com> wrote:
>> "Smart as a box of rocks".
>>
>
> "Maybe one judge in eight is crooked, ... political hacks about _as
> smart as a box of rocks_."
>
> Judge Brocton Lockwood
> in
> U.S. News & World Report, v.95. 1983.
> --
> -Wilson
> –––
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> –Mark Twain
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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