The idiom “not
playing with a full deck” is typically used to reference someone not acting
completely sanely, or mildly mentally retarded or diminished. If you
say “someone’s not playing with a full
deck”, you mean that he or she is very
stupid.
For Example:
“Someday our grandchildren will look up at us
and say, "Where were you, Grandma, and what were you doing when you first
realized that President Reagan was, er, not
playing with a full deck?"
--1987 April,
Barbara Ehrenreich, “The Unfastened Head of State”
“... when it came to mental capabilities. In
America you called someone like that retarded. Or you said, he's not playing with a full deck,
like a deck of cards.”
-- 2008, Ellen Cooney, Lambrusco, page 152
This is the Idiom #76 in the List of 100 commonly used Idioms in everyday English (Top 100 famous Idioms). By introducing this list of notable idioms to English learners and ESL students as you, we believe that your English will sound more like a native and you can easily understand what native speakers are saying. Please like and share this list with your friends if you think it is helpful - the full list is here.
