idiot box
4
7.2
- noun
- /ˈɪdiət bɑks/
- Informal
:
televisor
- Many people call their television set an idiot box because they feel it wastes their time.
- feed the idiot box
Examples
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People of all ages need to step away from their idiot boxes and begin their own curriculum in a self-directed education.
Blog text (5) -
The more time we spend before the idiot box, the more frustrating life becomes.
Blog text (7) -
No wonder it's called the idiot box.
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I will throw this idiot box out the window.
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Call it my own little idiot box.
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The point I like the best is the one about six hours a day watching the idiot box.
Blog text (26) -
I'm one of those people responsible for what you view on your idiot box.
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Do we really need to spend hours and hours a day staring at an idiot box?
Blog text (16) -
My relatively hip mother reminded me recently that when the television first came out, it was referred to as 'The Idiot Box.'
Blog text (26) -
My parents were firmly anti-television; my mother even refers to it as the idiot box.
Blog text (30)
Synonyms
626
1.0
An electronic device with a screen that receives broadcasts and shows moving pictures and sound
332
1.0
A screen device you use at home to watch shows and films
207
3.4
A machine like a television or radio
52
1.4
A machine with a screen that shows moving pictures and sound
43
1.0
A machine with a screen that shows moving pictures and sound
28
7.9
A machine like a TV that shows programs
7
8.1
A television set for watching shows
4
8.8
A television set people watch to see shows
1
8.8
A machine at home that shows programs and news
1
2.4
A machine that receives TV signals and shows them on a screen
A box in the home used to watch TV
Surface Forms
Morphology
idiot + box
The components 'idiot' and 'box' signal a box-like object associated with making people behave idiotically, so a learner can infer a device-related, derogatory sense. However, identifying the referent specifically as a television set relies on cultural/metaphorical knowledge (TV as a 'box' that makes viewers passive), so the meaning is not fully predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
Idiot box comes from a joke about early televisions. People called the box that you sit and stare at an idiot because shows could make people sit quietly and not think, so the phrase means 'television set'.