Somebody told me
Are you playing thick or just are?
in the middle of a conversation. and I didn't know its meaning. I searched for "play thick" in Google, but I didn't find anything.
- Is “are you playing thick” slang?
- What does it mean?
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What context is this expression used in? May be that can shed some light on its usage. Personally, I have never heard of such usage.– Durga SwaroopCommented Oct 30, 2015 at 5:24
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General background is "criticizing".– JimmyCommented Oct 30, 2015 at 5:30
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"Are you being thick?" is more like it. Or how about "Are you thick or just playing?"– RickyCommented Oct 30, 2015 at 5:34
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3In the United States, the (equivalently hostile) wording might be "Are you just playing dumb, or are you really that stupid?" To "play thick" is to pretend not to understand (something).– Sven YargsCommented Oct 30, 2015 at 6:32
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5 Answers
I think here playing thick refers to 'pretending to be fool', so the the person is asking, "are you pretending to be a fool, or are you a fool?"
- Informal Lacking mental agility; stupid.
(AHD)
Playing thick is not an idiom: it is simply made up of colloquial meanings of the two words - play meaning "pretend" and thick meaning "stupid".
answered Oct 30, 2015 at 12:25
Are you being idiotic on purpose or are you naturally that way?
The idiomatic version of this that I know reverses the sentence and goes along the lines of:
"Are you thick (i.e. stupid), or just mucking about (i.e. messing with my mind)?"
Thick skulled, but many times the latter isnt used.. just "being thick"
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This would be a better answer if you supported it with citations.– DavoCommented Aug 15, 2019 at 17:23