Etymology Journal · H
He couldn't find his own butt with a flashlight
Meaning
- An insult aimed at someone who is remarkably unobservant or inept. It suggests they are so incompetent they would fail at a task as simple as locating their own body parts.
Brutal, sassy, derogatory
Used in a sentence
- He tried to help with the map, but he couldn't find his own butt with a flashlight.
- That guy is so lost he couldn't find his own butt with a flashlight.
- I asked him to look for the keys, but he couldn't find his own butt with a flashlight.
The backstory
This is a quintessential example of American rural hyperbole. By adding a tool like a flashlight to the equation, it emphasizes the absolute level of incompetence being described.
Heard in
Nationwide
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