idiot card
- noun
- /ˈɪdiət kɑrd/
- Slang
:
tarjeta de idiota
- After forgetting his wallet at home, Tom joked that he had pulled out his idiot card again.
Examples
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She laughed and waved her idiot card after spilling coffee on her report.
-
He always pulls out his idiot card when he makes a mistake.
-
Every time I mess up at work, I feel like I'm flashing my idiot card.
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I can't believe I forgot my wallet; I must have played my idiot card again.
-
After forgetting his wallet at home, Tom joked that he had pulled out his idiot card again.
-
Every time I mess up at work, I feel like I'm flashing my idiot card.
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She laughed and waved her idiot card after spilling coffee on her report.
Synonyms
51
3.4
A foolish action that shows poor judgment
40
8.0
Very stupid or foolish behaviour often seen as offensive
7
4.4
To make a careless mistake by acting or speaking without thinking
4
2.8
A careless, foolish error that causes problems
1
8.4
A stupid action or remark
Surface Forms
Morphology
idiot + card
The component 'idiot' (a foolish person) gives a clear cue to foolishness, but 'card' is used metaphorically here (as in 'play the X card') rather than literally, so the specific sense of a momentary lapse or humorous excuse is not fully derivable from the parts. The expression relies on an English pattern of invoking an identity as an excuse, which learners may recognise only with some exposure, making it partially but not fully transparent.
Etymology
Idiot card may come from the image of someone taking out a small card that says idiot after doing something silly. By showing that card they admit the mistake, so today idiot card means 'a joking way to admit a silly or brief mistake'.