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three Stooges

idiom
Meaning

A group of three stupid people.


Origin

From The Three Stooges (1922-1970), a comedy troupe whose stage act and short films featured three quarrelsome and absurd characters of low intelligence, given to insults and violent slapstick, who often stood in contrast with or were manipulated by characters of a higher social class.

Examples
SIMPLE

Those three guys are acting like the Three Stooges.

CONTEXTUAL

The project failed because the Three Stooges in the office forgot to save the files.

COMPLEX

The committee members bickered incessantly, appearing to the rest of the staff as nothing more than the Three Stooges.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    count to three

    Synonym of count to ten.

  2. 02

    me three

    Used to express agreement, after someone has already said "me too." Can be continued as "me four," "me five," and so on.

  3. 03

    three guys in a garage

    A small, agile group of startup innovators with a big idea, passion, and modest resources.

  4. 04

    three Musketeers

    A group of three people who are very closely associated; a trio.

  5. 05

    three score and ten

    Seventy, being the number of years in a full lifetime of traditionally-expected duration.

  6. 06

    three sheets to the wind

    Unsteady from drink.

  7. 07

    three skips of a louse

    The worth of some trifling or insignificant matter; a whit or jot of value.

  8. 08

    three squares

    Three square meals, understood as a complete, satisfying, and nourishing regimen of food taken over the course of a day.

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