Describing Personality with Idioms and Negative Prefixes
Hello! In this lesson, we’re going to explore a very useful skill: describing people’s personality in a natural, precise and interesting way. Instead of saying someone is “nice”, “bad”, “quiet” or “confident”, you’ll learn how to use idiomatic expressions that native speakers often use when talking about character.
Let’s begin with the idiom “keep a stiff upper lip”. This describes someone who stays calm and unemotional, especially in a difficult situation. For example: “Even after losing the competition, Mike kept a stiff upper lip and congratulated the winner politely.” This shows emotional control and the ability not to show disappointment.
Another useful idiom is “have a mind of your own”. This means that someone thinks independently and does not simply follow other people. Such a person is independent and strong-willed. For example: “John has a mind of his own; even when everyone disagrees with him, he makes his own decision.”
Now let’s look at people who struggle with confidence or decisions. If someone can’t make up their mind, they are hesitant and indecisive. For example: “Karen couldn’t make up her mind, so she spent twenty minutes choosing between tea and coffee.”
Let’s take a look at another situation. If someone is under someone’s thumb, they are controlled by another person and may seem obedient and unassertive. For example: “Sid is under his wife’s thumb; he never agrees to anything without asking her first.”
Some idioms are informal and slightly negative. If someone is a complete pain in the neck, they are annoying and exasperating. For example: “Elsa is a complete pain in the neck because she interrupts every meeting with unnecessary complaints.”
But if someone loves pulling your leg, they enjoy joking and teasing in a harmless way. They may be cheerful and fun-loving. For example: “Simon loves pulling your leg, so don’t believe him when he says the test has been cancelled.”
We also have idioms for careless or emotional behaviour. If someone is always putting their foot in it, they say something inappropriate by accident. They may be careless and insensitive. For example: “Britney put her foot in it when she asked Tom about his holiday, forgetting he had missed it because he was ill.”
If someone cries at the slightest thing, they become upset very easily. They may be oversensitive and temperamental. For example: “Sharon cries at the slightest thing; even a sad advert can make her burst into tears.”
Now let’s move to word formation. English often creates negative adjectives with prefixes such as dis-, im-, in-, ir- and un-. For example, considerate becomes inconsiderate, and efficient becomes inefficient, secure becomes insecure. But we cannot choose prefixes randomly. We say immature, not “unmature”.
Here are more examples: obedient becomes disobedient, affectionate becomes unaffectionate, and selfish becomes unselfish, and rational becomes irrational, not “inrational”. Try to learn adjectives as part of word families. This helps you speak more accurately and sound more natural.
To summarise, by using these idioms with adjectives you will sound more native. Your descriptions will be more vivid, advanced and memorable.
