An expression of disappointment This laments the lack of achievement by commenting on the wealth of ability. This is the type of thing people used to say about Darryl Dawkins when he was in the NBA. People have said the same thing about me, for that matter. I'm not a fan of the saying, myself. It assumes that the objectives of the person being referred to are the same, or at least substantially similar, to the person who is critiquing them. I used to hear this regarding my abandoned education as an engineer. I hated engineering. It was boring work to me. I liked pure math and physics, but not engineering. Give me the network admin work that I do now any day.