to take a silly pill
- idiom
- Slang
:
ponerse tonto
- She must have taken a silly pill before the meeting; she couldn't stop making jokes.
Examples
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Whenever he acts that way, I wonder if he took a silly pill for breakfast.
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Did you take a silly pill this morning, or are you always this goofy?
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Don't take a silly pill now!
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She takes a silly pill whenever she's stressed.
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Did you take a silly pill this morning, or are you always this goofy?
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She must have taken a silly pill before the meeting; she couldn't stop making jokes.
-
Whenever he acts that way, I wonder if he took a silly pill for breakfast.
Synonyms
88
2.1
Act in a foolish or playful way without taking things seriously
1
9.9
Act in a foolish, annoying way instead of being serious
To behave in a silly or wild way that makes people laugh
To behave in a very strange or wild way
Antonyms
How Silly
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines transparent parts ('take', 'silly', 'pill') so a learner can plausibly infer the metaphor of 'taking a (imaginary) pill' that makes someone act foolishly, giving a general idea of 'behave in a silly way.' However, the expression is colloquial and metaphorical—its pragmatic use and immediacy (sudden/uncharacteristic silliness) are not fully predictable from the words alone, so some prior exposure is needed.
Etymology
Take a silly pill comes from a joking image: imagine someone actually taking a tiny silly pill that suddenly makes them act silly or foolish. So, saying someone 'took a silly pill' means they suddenly behaved in a very silly or unexpected way.