Phrases & SayingsPeople and character
wouldn't know if a tram was up him unless the conductor rang the bell
Also: wouldn't know a tram was up him till the bell rang
Be extremely unobservant or foolish.
In a sentence
He wouldn’t know if a tram was up him unless the conductor rang the bell.
Where it came from
A long comic Australian formula for extreme stupidity, drawing on the once-familiar city tram and its conductor’s bell.
- Initial era
- 2000–today
- Where used
- Especially urban south-eastern Australia; now dated