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UK(as) bright as a (new) button
/az ɔː bɹˈaɪt az ɐ njˈuː ɔː bˈʌtən/
/æz ɔːɹ bɹˈaɪt æz ɐ nˈuː ɔːɹ bˈʌʔn̩/(as) bright as a (new) button
[PHRASE]
What is the origin of the idiom "bright as a button" and when to use it?
The phrase "bright as a button" is believed to have emerged in the English language during the 19th century or earlier. The phrase likely arose from a combination of the qualities associated with buttons and the metaphorical use of brightness to describe intelligence or mental sharpness. This association may have been applied metaphorically to describe someone who is mentally sharp, alert, and quick-thinking. The phrase "bright as a new button" conveys the idea of freshness, vigor, and brilliance in one's intellect.
Examples
1. See if you can spot the answer to the quiz question Neil asked earlier: When you look back through history and you see that Henry Armstrong, Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis all suffered with neurological problems as they got older - but what we also need to find out is why can you have a fighter like George Foreman, who's now in his seventies, and is as bright as a button after two long hard careers.
2. See if you can spot the answer to the quiz question Neil asked earlier: When you look back through history and you see that Henry Armstrong, Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis all suffered with neurological problems as they got older - but what we also need to find out is why can you have a fighter like George Foreman, who's now in his seventies, and is as bright as a button after two long hard careers.
3. Tris mentions some famous boxers who suffered neurological problems in later life, and another boxer who's still 'as bright as a button' - an expression used to describe someone who's happy, cheerful, intelligent, and full of energy.
4. Tris mentions some famous boxers who suffered neurological problems in later life, and another boxer who's still 'as bright as a button' - an expression used to describe someone who's happy, cheerful, intelligent, and full of energy.
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