Hi there, this is Harry.
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So what have we got in our lesson for you today?
Well, in our lesson today, the advanced English is about idioms and the idioms that we will use that we do use to describe a person or people.
OK, so advanced English and advanced English idioms used to describe a person.
I've got actually 18 of these, so I'm going to go through them slowly and I'll give you examples when you can use them.
Number one, the scum of the earth.
Oh, it's a bad one, this, the scum of the earth.
So we use this expression or idiom when we're really talking nasty about somebody.
We really don't like them.
They're not a very pleasant person, they are evil, they are mean.
So we describe them as the scum of the earth, and the scum is the dirt on the soil, the dirt on the ground, the scum of the earth, Or he's the scum of the earth.
He's a really bad apple in that particular family.
Every bit of trouble they've had is because of him.
He's the scum of the earth.
In a similar way, the next one, the idiom is a nasty piece of work.
And when we describe somebody as a nasty piece of work, it's not somebody you want to meet on a dark night in a dark alleyway.
Yeah,
It's somebody who is likely to attack you and ask questions later.
So somebody who acts the tough guy.
Maybe he's a member of a gang, carries a weapon.
But whatever he does, he's a nasty piece of work and you need to stay away from him.
A nasty piece of work.
A loose cannon.
Well, when somebody is a loose cannon, he's likely to go off in any direction.
That's literally what it means.
So when somebody says something, you're never quite sure what he's going to say or who he's going to say it to.
So he could actually insult somebody.
He could give away the trade secrets.
He's just got a big mouth and is likely to talk to anyone.
You need to be very careful giving david that information, because he's a like a loose cannon.
He's liable to tell anybody anything and you never quite know where it will go.
So be really, really careful with the information you give him.
He's like a loose cannon, Big cheese.
Well, when somebody is described as a big cheese, it means he or she is a really important person, either in that business, in the community, in politics or in the school, or wherever he might be, he or she, they will be regarded as really important.
You can't meet him.
You have no chance of getting to see him.
He's a real big cheese these days.
You know, he drives a big fancy car.
He's got a big important job.
No chance of meeting him.
He's a real big cheese.
Next, still on the topic of food, we can describe somebody as a tough cookie.
OK, well, a cookie is nice to chew, but if they are overdone or burnt or you'll hurt your teeth.
So somebody who's a tough cookie.
Cookie is somebody not easy to bend or break or not someone who's easy to persuade.
Oh, you'll have great difficulty getting that budget past the boss.
He's a real tough cookie when it comes to spending money.
So you want to have... your information really well prepared.
And when you have your budget you need to have all the facts and the figures, because he's a tough cookie to deal with somebody.
Really difficult shrinking violet.
We often use this in the negative.
He or she is no shrinking violet.
A shrinking violet is something that withers up like a little plant and it disappears.
Okay, but when we say that somebody is No shrinking violet.
It means they're not going to walk away from trouble.
They're going to stand up for themselves.
They're going to be argumentative and it's not going to be easy to push them around.
So again, we might say, well, just be careful with Kathy.
You know, when you say something to her, you need to be really, really strong about it, because she's no shrinking violet.
She'll demand answers and she'll want explanation.
So you're not going to get anything past her.
She's no shrinking violet.
We can also describe people as the life and soul of the party.
So when somebody is the life and soul of the party, the person, the first person you hear when you walk in the door, You know the person you hear laughing.
They will be surrounded by a crowd of people entertaining everybody, making sure people are having drinks, joining in the games, having the fun, starting to sing songs.
You know what he's like.
He's a really, he's a laugh a minute.
He's the life and soul of any party.
He's the first person you'll want to have on your guest list when you issue your invitations.
The life and soul of the party.
A real busybody, a real busybody.
Well, somebody who is a busybody is somebody who's always got their nose into everybody else's business.
They want to know what's happening.
They want to know what people are talking about.
They want to know what people are doing.
They want to know what car they're driving, where they live, all of this.
They're a real busybody.
Oh, be careful with the information you give to Mary.
She's a real busybody.
Always into everybody else's business.
So just be really, really careful.
She'll find out anyway, but don't offer anything.
Otherwise, she'll never leave you alone.
She's a real busybody.
Number nine, God's gift to the world.
Well, when people think they are God's gift to the world, they have a high opinion of themselves.
They feel they're the best at everything.
They feel you should be honored to be in their company.
They feel that you should be honoured to be even sitting beside them.
Ah, him!
He thinks he's God's gift to the world.
Ah, I think if he fell into the river, he'd come up with fish in his pocket.
Yeah, he thinks he's God's gift to the world.
A crybaby.
Well, this is the word we used to use at school when somebody was always moaning and groaning.
And if he fell down in the schoolyard, if you kicked him in the football pitch.
If you took something from whatever it was, he'd be a real crybaby.
And some people just never mature.
They never grow up.
And they're always moaning and groaning and complaining.
A real crybaby.
That's number 10.
Now, number 11 is a fuddy-duddy.
So somebody who is a fuddy-duddy is a little bit stuck in their ways, a little bit old fashioned perhaps in the way they dress, certainly in their attitude to life.
They're very, very conservative and unlikely to do anything adventurous.
We don't want to ask him.
He's a real fuddy-duddy.
Does everything by the rule-book.
I mean, he wouldn't, i don't know, he wouldn't even throw a bit of paper on the ground.
Let's try it with somebody else, because you know he's not going to agree to it and it's just literally.
He's no fun.
He's a fuddy-duddy stuck in his ways.
Okay, and then number 12, somebody who's described as a good egg.
Well, a good egg is somebody that is reliable, he's trustworthy, he's honest.
He's just an all round good egg.
It's a very British English expression.
Oh, he's a good egg.
He was always good at school.
We'd never tell tales on anybody.
He was a swat who studied hard, but all round just a good egg and nobody had a bad word to say about him.
Set in your ways.
Well, we earlier on referred to a fuddy-duddy and this is something similar.
When somebody is set in their ways, they have got into a sort of a rut.
They don't like to change.
They wear the same type of clothes.
They go on the same sort of holiday.
They drive the same sort of car.
They're just happy to go in and do their work.
They won't look to change.
They won't look to move companies.
Ah, it's no point.
You know, he's Robert.
He's just very set in his ways.
He's been like that for years.
I think I'm surprised you haven't noticed it.
He just never, never changes.
Every time you suggest something ah, we'll see.
We'll see.
So very set in his way.
No, no sense of adventure, no free spirit.
Set in his ways, A smart arse.
Well, this is a real Irish English expression.
Him.
That's smart arse.
So a smart arse is somebody who's got a clever remark about everything.
He might actually be quite bright, but he always chips in with the answer, first of all.
He's always the guy coming up with a smart response.
Might be a little sarcastic.
Yeah, ironic.
But, you know, underneath it all, he's actually quite bright, but he's a real smart arse.
So, you know, he likes to show off.
He likes to let the boss know that he has the answers.
I bet he was the same at school.
A real... smart arse.
Everybody liked to see him fall flat on his face.
Somebody has a screw loose.
This is number 15 in my list to have a screw loose.
Well, when somebody has a screw loose, it means he's a little bit mad, a little bit crazy.
Don't worry about him.
He says some really strange things.
I mean, everybody is a little bit mad.
But this guy, he's got a real screw loose.
So if you give him any suggestion about doing something wild, he'll just lose it completely.
I mean, you have to be really, really careful.
So I think he really needs to go and see somebody.
I mean, he's a nice guy, but, you know, give him a couple of beers and he goes absolutely crazy.
He's got a real screw loose.
So something is a little bit difficult and psychologically I'm not so sure.
He's got, as we would say in English, one slice short of a pizza.
So he might not be the full shilling.
So he's got a screw loose, a little bit unreliable, psychologically unstable, just a little bit mad.
To have a short fuse.
So this is number 16.
To have a short fuse.
A fuse is a wire that they used to light when they were blowing up the bank vault or blowing up the stagecoach, and they would light the fuse and then They give them 30 seconds or a minute before it would explode.
When somebody has a short fuse, it means they explode really, really quickly and you want to get out of the way.
So when somebody has a short fuse, it means they've got a really quick bad temper and they could be nice to your face one minute and then 30 seconds later boom.
Yeah, they're shouting, they're screaming, they're roaring when something goes wrong.
So we would describe him as having a real short fuse.
Be very, very careful when you tell him bad news.
I would stand back because you could be in the way of a big blast.
So to have a short fuse.
Number 17 is somebody to have their head in the clouds.
This is an old expression.
Most people, I think, know what the meaning of this is.
So somebody has their head in the clouds.
It means that they can't quite see where they are going, but also means they are daydreaming or just drifting. ah come on you know the way he is martin he always goes around with his head in the clouds he never sees anything he's always thinking about his gaming or he's thinking about something else i'm not so sure he never has his mind on the job he never has his mind on the work So it's not really relevant to involve him because he's continually got his head in the clouds, never has any ideas to contribute.
So he'll come along.
We just tell him what we're doing.
He won't mind.
But don't involve him in decision making, because you won't get any decision out of him.
He's constantly got his head in the clouds.
So it's up there somewhere, not able to see anything, doesn't think about anybody.
And then finally, I know it all.
Well, when somebody is a know-it-all, literally that's what it means.
They think they know everything.
They think they know it all.
If you have a problem with the plumbing, they'll tell you how to fix it.
You've got a problem with the electricity, he'll tell you how to fix it.
Problem with your car, he'll tell you how to do it.
Ask him to show you.
No chance, but he's a know-it-all.
He knows everything.
He knows about politics.
He knows who to get to do this.
He knows what's happening in the business.
Oh, so, so annoying.
Sometimes he's right, but you know, sometimes I think he's just bullshitting.
Yeah, so a know-it-all.
Somebody who thinks they know everything.
Okay, so there we have 18 idioms to describe a personality of a person.
You might not know them all.
Some of them are worth remembering.
You should try and practice some of them.
You know the drill by now.
Practice a few every day until you get through the list.
See how you can apply them.
Indeed, there's so many of them there.
You'd probably be able to look into your office or your list of friends and appoint one of these particular descriptions to many of your friends or family.
But don't tell them.
Don't tell them the bad ones anyway.
OK, so practice.
If you need any more help, come back to me wwwenglishlessonviaskypecom.
I'll be very, very happy to help you.
OK, thanks for listening.
This is Harry saying goodbye and join me for the next lesson.
