idiot box
Television.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Stop staring at the idiot box and go outside.”
“My father spends every evening glued to the idiot box instead of talking to us.”
“The critic argued that society had become intellectually stagnant due to the constant influence of the idiot box.”
From *idiot* + *box*, an allusion to the perceived lack of educational merit in television programming. The term appeared as a critique of the medium's supposed capacity to reduce the mental faculties of its viewers.
- 01
box clever
To act wisely.
- 02
box oneself into a corner
To create a predicament or problem for oneself; to do something that leaves one with no good alternatives or solutions.
- 03
box seat
A favorable vantage point.
- 04
box someone's ears
To slap someone on the side of the head, usually as an informal punishment.
- 05
box the compass
To make a complete reversal in stance or opinion.
- 06
come from a Cracker Jack box
To obtain or retrieve something that is useless, cheap or fake.
- 07
get one's shine box
Used as an insult.
- 08
idiot mittens
Mittens connected by yarn or string (idiot string (Canadian English)) running through one sleeve, along the back and out at the other sleeve of a coat, to prevent the mittens becoming lost. Generally worn by small children.
Last updated August 10, 2026