there's one born every minute

there's one born every minute

A phrase used to express the opinion that the person or people being discussed are stupid and/or easily swindled or deceived. A variation of the expression, "There's a sucker born every minute," which is usually attributed to American showman P.T. Barnum. A: "Did those people seriously think he was going to race an actual shark?" B: "There's one born every minute."
See also: born, every, minute, one
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

there's one born every minute

People say there's one born every minute to mean that someone has just done something stupid, especially that they have been tricked. I have often seen these salesmen surrounded by crowds ready to buy. There's one born every minute!
See also: born, every, minute, one
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

there's one (or a sucker) born every minute

there are many stupid or gullible people about (used as a comment on a particular situation in which someone has been or is about to be deceived). informal
See also: born, every, minute, one
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

there’s one born every ˈminute

(saying) used to say that somebody is very stupid: You really believed he would pay you that money back? There’s one born every minute!
See also: born, every, minute, one
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • there's a sucker born every minute
  • a penny for them
  • be born yesterday
  • yench
  • clay
  • clay pigeon
  • clipped
  • never give a sucker an even break
  • never give a sucker an even chance
  • no one's fool
References in periodicals archive
Her film career had started in 1942 when Taylor appeared in her first motion picture, There's One Born Every Minute, aged just nine.
Head to head: The two seductive Cleopatras
And proving there's one born every minute, like the loonies who send flowers when soap characters pop off the perch, coachloads turned up from the sticks in hope of seeing Askey and Murdoch hanging out the washing, George VI was a fan and once astonished a group of politicians by reciting almost the entire script of the previous night's show to them.
Theng-yew for the memories Arthur... How Askey and Murdoch became our first comic stars looking back Time traveller Take a trip down memory lane
Frankly, I'm not surprised, because the only thing that the occult sciences have ever genuinely proved beyond doubt is that there's one born every minute.And yet astrology is more popular than ever, with newspapers devoting more and more space to horoscopes, and its leading practitioners commanding transfer fees that even David Beckham would consider exorbitant.
Victor Lewis-Smith Column: Stars are for Sadgit-arians
IT was a nine-part 1966 series There's One Born Every Minute. Her character, Lizzie Oldshaw, befriended rascally poacher Sam Gudgeon played by her Last of the Summer Wine co- star Bill Owen.
SHOWBIZ SAM
Wasn't it Phineas Taylor Barnum, who died well over a hundred years ago who said, "There's one born every minute".
Getting right to the point
Astrology is a ridiculous vocation that has only ever proved one scientific fact: that there's one born every minute.
WEEPING SICKNESS; Tides of TV tears just won't wash