Emery : noun Metamorphic rock consisting essentially of corundum from which a powder is obtained which serves as an abrasive.
(A bottle stoppered with emery, the stopper of which, polished with emery, adapts perfectly to the neck).
Being clogged with emery, particularly narrow and closed (speaking of a person).
History of the expression "Blocked with emery": Idiot, obtuse, limited - Unable to understand.
Emery is a very hard material which has been used as an abrasive for many centuries, but which is by no means a plugging product.
Emery is a very hard material which has been used as an abrasive for many centuries, but which is by no means a plugging product.
In the past, in order for a container to be as airtight as possible, the outside of the stopper and the inside of the neck were polished with emery, so that the contact between the two was as perfect as possible. Once we know this, we are a little better able to understand the metaphor of our expression.
When, in slang, we say of someone that he is "blocked", it is not only to say that nature has not spoiled him too much intellectually, but also to mean that he is completely. hermetic, in the sense that no ounce of intelligence can enter it.
Hermetic? Waterproof? You just understood! The "plugged with emery board" is comparable to this sealed container from which nothing can come out, but in which, unfortunately for the idiot, nothing can fit either.