no great shakes

Someone or something that is mediocre, unremarkable, or not very good. A: "Did you enjoy the movie?" B: "It was no great shakes, but it was something to do for the afternoon." I'm afraid the editor we hired is no great shakes. We might have to look for a replacement.

Inf. someone or something that is not very good. (There is no affirmative version of this.) Your idea is no great shakes, but we'll try it anyway. Ted is no great shakes when it comes to brains.

Nothing out of the ordinary, mediocre, as in I'm afraid the new pitcher is no great shakes, or What I did with this decorating project was no great shakes. This term possibly alludes to the shaking of dice, which most often yields a mediocre result, but there is no evidence to support this theory. [Early 1800s]

If someone or something is no great shakes, they are not skilful or of good quality. She can write screenplays well enough but she's no great shakes as a director. The novel on which the film is based was no great shakes to start with. Note: This expression probably refers to shaking dice and getting a poor result, although there are other possible explanations.

Unexceptional; ordinary: "stepping in between the victim and the bully, even when the victim happens to be no great shakes" (Louis Auchincloss).

Nothing special; ordinary. There are several theories as to the origin of this term, which dates from the early nineteenth century. One holds that it comes from sailors shaking a cask, that is, dismantling it and picking up the staves, or shakes, which then had little value. Another believes it comes from shaking dice with only a poor result. Whichever is true, it was transferred to anything deemed mediocre by about 1800, as in, “I’m no great shakes at braggin” (John Neal, Brother Jonathan, 1825).