as useful as a bag of dicks
- idiom
- Offensive
- The instructions were as useful as a bag of dicks, leaving everyone confused.
Examples
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Why did you buy that gadget? It's as useful as a bag of dicks.
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His advice turned out to be as useful as a bag of dicks during the meeting.
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After trying the new app, I found it was as useful as a bag of dicks for tracking expenses.
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That tool is as useful as a bag of dicks!
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The new software update is as useful as a bag of dicks; it didn't fix any of the bugs.
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I thought the tutorial would help, but it was as useful as a bag of dicks for learning the topic.
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Trying to assemble that furniture without instructions was as useful as a bag of dicks.
Synonyms
548
5.6
Bad or worthless and often causing trouble
481
1.0
Not able to do the job it is made for
273
3.0
Has no value or use
161
3.5
Not doing anything useful
75
6.0
Not likely to work or help
19
6.8
Not useful or worth much
1
9.9
Not useful and having little value
1
5.2
Not able to do what is needed
1
8.2
Not useful for everyday tasks
Not helpful and not wanted in any situation
Completely useless in real situations
Having no real use
Something that has no real purpose or value
Antonyms
How Useful
Surface Forms
Morphology
as + useful + as + a + bag + of + dick
Although the structure 'as useful as a X' is transparent, the specific image 'a bag of dicks' is slangy, vulgar and culturally specific, so its intended meaning 'extremely useless' is not predictably derived from the literal constituents. A B1 learner who knows the words would likely be confused or miss the insulting, idiomatic force rather than infer the intended evaluative meaning.
Etymology
As useful as a bag of dicks is a rude saying that creates a shocking, silly image — a bag full of dicks, which would be clearly useless for any normal task. Because the picture is so absurd and pointless, people use it to call something completely 'useless'.