Some more idioms to describe people

A Match up the words and definitions. Write your answers in the boxes below.

1 a big shot 11 a killjoy

2 a blackleg 12 a lay about

3 a busybody 13 a litter lout

4 a chatterbox 14 a pain in the neck

5 a daredevil 15 a ringleader

6 a figurehead 16 a scapegoat

7 a gatecrasher 17 a skinflint

8 a general dogsbody 18 a sponger

9 a jaywalker 19 an underdog

10 a junkie 20 a whiz kid

A person who...

a) is always borrowing money and living off other people.

b) is very lazy and avoids responsibility and work.

c) is unfairly blamed or punished for something, because the public wants to see that someone is punished or blamed.

d) has a low position in a company and gets all the boring jobs that no one else wants to do, e.g. photocopying, making coffee, etc.

e) is extremely intelligent and successful at their job, even though he/she is very young.

f) is important and influential.

g) is unable to stop taking drugs.

h) hates to spend or give money.

i) always wants to know about other people's private lives.

j) crosses the street in a careless or dangerous way, often ignoring traffic lights.

k) turns up at a party without being invited to it.

l) drops rubbish everywhere and never puts it in the bin.

m) is expected to lose in a competition with someone else or a weaker person who is always treated badly by others.

n) can't stop talking.

o) disapproves of things that other people enjoy and who tries to stop them from enjoying themselves.

p) loves taking risks and doing dangerous things.

q) carries on working when other workers are on strike.

r) leads others to do wrong or make trouble.

s) is head or chief but in name only as he/she has no real power.

t) is a really annoying person who most people can't stand.

В Discuss the following questions.

1 Name some big shots in your country. Would you like to be a big shot? Why? Why not?

2 What is your opinion of blacklegs? How effective are strikes?

3 Have you ever known a busybody? Tell other students about this person.

4 Who is the biggest chatterbox in your class? In general, are men or women the bigger chatterboxes?

5 Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, was a computer whiz kid. Do you know any other famous whiz kids?

6 Have you ever been a gatecrasher? If so, tell the others about it. What about you? Have you ever had gatecrashers at a party you held? Who were they and what happened?

7 Is it against the law to be a jaywalker in your country?

8 Can you think of any sporting event (football, tennis, boxing, etc.) where an underdog has won?

9 Which would you least like to be known as - a pain in the neck, a skinflint or a sponger? Give reasons.

Additional material on the topic Character

Intellectual ability

Ability: intelligent, bright, clever, sharp, shrewd, able, gifted, talented, brainy (colloquial)

Lacking ability: stupid, foolish, half-witted, simple, silly, brainless, dumb (the last three are predominantly colloquial words)

Clever, in a negative way, using brains to trick or deceive: cunning, crafty, sly.