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Glite Dictionary
to ride the short bus

to ride the short bus

9.9
To call someone not smart to insult them
  • idiom
  • Slur
translation icon : ser retrasado
  • Some people use the phrase ride the short bus to mock others, but it's considered offensive.

Examples

  • Whenever she struggled with basic math, her brother teased her by saying she might ride the short bus.

  • Don't ride the short bus just because you made a mistake.

  • After his mistake at work, he joked that he must ride the short bus.

  • He always jokes about riding the short bus in school.

  • Some people use the phrase ride the short bus to mock others, highlighting their lower ability and it's considered offensive.

  • Whenever her brother wanted to tease her, he would say she might ride the short bus for struggling with basic math questions.

  • After his mistake in the meeting, a colleague jokingly suggested that he must ride the short bus.

Antonyms

competent
114 3.6

Able to do a job well because of skill and knowledge

to excel
58 3.7

To be much better than other people at an activity or subject

Surface Forms

ride the short bus infinitive
riding the short bus present participle
rides the short bus third person singular
rode the short bus past
ridden the short bus past participle

Morphology

ride + the + short + bus

The insulting meaning cannot be derived from the literal words 'ride' + 'the' + 'short' + 'bus' — it depends on cultural knowledge that a "short bus" refers to school transport for students with disabilities and is used pejoratively. This culturally specific, derogatory sense is idiomatic and not predictable from the constituents, so a B1 learner who only knows the component words would not reliably infer it.

Etymology

Ride the short bus comes from the image of a small school bus that once took children who needed extra help to school. People began using that picture to make fun of someone, so today it means 'less able' or 'less smart' and is seen as 'offensive'.