Someone on the dull side might be described as “sharp as a marshmallow sandwich.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Marshmallow Sandwich”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Jess Haberman calling from Saugus, Massachusetts, just north of Boston.
Hi, Jess, how you doing?
I’m good, how are you?
Excellent.
What can we help you with?
Well, I had a question about a phrase that my grandfather used to use. Either when somebody said something very smart or somebody said something really dumb or silly, he would say you were as sharp as a marshmallow sandwich, or because he was from Boston, he would say sharp as a marshmallow sandwich.
So that was just a joking, affectionate term, or was it?
Yes, very joking and affectionate, and I have warm feelings about it.
Yeah, sharp as a marshmallow sandwich. I didn’t grow up with that expression, did you, Grant?
No, no. Googling around, I see it a few places online, but usually not in exactly this way, right?
I mean, the only thing I could think it was similar to is like sharp as a marble. And I Googled it, too. I didn’t find a lot.
Oh, sharp as a marble. I like that.
Yeah.
And that’s part of what I love about the expression sharp as a marshmallow sandwich because it’s soft, right, and gooey. But especially around the 1940s and 1950s, there were marshmallow sandwiches, I think, produced by Nabisco that were round, you know, sort of like.
Like moon pies?
Exactly, like moon pies in the South. I think they were smaller. So they were both soft and chewy and round. So the sharp worked both ways there.
The term that I’ve seen much more commonly is soup sandwich.
Oh, yeah. You know, this is a soup sandwich.
But that refers to like a mess or a goat rodeo, right?
Yeah, yeah, just somebody who’s just a disaster. He’s a soup sandwich.
But I can see saying sharp is a soup sandwich. Soup sandwich. Because you’re going to see someone trying to put soup between two slices of toast.
Exactly, yeah. I think that originated in the military, but I really like that one as well. Not necessarily regional or a timey kind of phrase or anything like that.
No, it doesn’t look like it’s widespread at all. If he got it somewhere, it’s lost in the mists of time.
Well, that only kind of makes it more lovable.
Right, exactly. Maybe he’s just especially creative as a person. Sharp as a marshmallow sandwich.
Right.
Oh, definitely.
Well, for sure.
Yes, he was.
Okay, well, I’m going to adopt that one into my vocabulary.
Me too. I really like it.
Jess, thank you for sharing.
Well, my work is done here.
Your work is done.
Take care now.
All right.
Bye-bye.
Thanks so much.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
What’d you learn from your grandpa?
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