there's nobody home

there's nobody home

Said of someone whom one thinks is dimwitted or mentally impaired. I've been trying to get information from him for half an hour, but there's nobody home as far as I can tell. She's sweet and very attractive, but there's nobody home when you try to discuss any serious topic.
See also: home, nobody
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

There's nobody home.

There are no brains in someone's head. There's lots of goodwill in that head, but there's nobody home. What a fool! There's nobody home—that's for sure.
See also: home, nobody
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

nobody home

1. No one is paying attention, as in She threw the ball right past him, yelling "Nobody home!"
2. The person being discussed is mentally impaired and so cannot understand, as in When the woman did not answer, he concluded it was a case of nobody home. Both usages transfer the absence of someone in a dwelling to absent-mindedness or mental deficiency, and are thought to have been invented by cartoonist and journalist Thomas Aloysius Dorgan ("TAD") around 1900. He often embellished his column with such punning amplifications as "Nobody home but the telephone and that's in the hands of the receiver," or "Nobody home but the oyster and that's in the stew."
See also: home, nobody
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

There’s nobody home

sent. There are no brains in someone’s head. You twit! There’s nobody home—that’s for sure.
See also: home, nobody
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • nobody home
  • There’s nobody home
  • there's no one home
  • mouth breather
  • mouth-breather
  • partially sighted
  • sighted
  • (one) is not playing with a full deck
  • have nothing between the/(one's) ears
  • I like pie
References in periodicals archive
And if the contrast between near-perfection against South Africa at The Oval to this soup sandwich four days later doesn't ring any alarm bells in the England think tank, there's nobody home in the belfry.
It's a field of screams for Root and Co
"If projecting a shadow makes a woman an easy target by showing criminals there's nobody home, that would put the cart before the horse," he said.
Shadow-boxer helps protect Japanese women
We used to say about folk acting daft: "The lights are on but there's nobody home."
No light relief; Letters.
The lights are on but there's nobody home: If you're not using a room, switch off all electrical appliances, including lights, when you leave.
Bus shelters suffer from power problems
The lights are STILL on - even though there's nobody home.
No light relief from Assembly
IT'S often said of Leinster House that the lights may be on but there's nobody home.
Eoin borrows a bright idea
But if the new Impala, 2001 Olds Aurora and midsize Saturn are indicators, there's nobody home at GM Design.
Impala: It's Not A Great Car
He remarked about one ballplayer who committed an obvious mental mistake, "His light is on, but there's nobody home.' Of another he said irreverently, "His elevator doesn't go all the way to the top.'
Boom! It's John Madden
If you can't hear the alarm bells ringing in Brighton, there's nobody home in the belfry.
NEIL & PRAY; Still hope for Warnock's battlers and sad Brighton face a fight for survival