28 Ways to Talk About People Negatively in English

Hi I'm Anne Marie with Speak Confident English and welcome to your Confident

English Wednesday lesson. Over the past couple of months I've started a series

of lessons focused on describing people, their personalities, characteristics,

and traits. And in the first lesson we used some stories to help us highlight

some key language. Then in the second lesson we focused on ways to describe

people in a very positive way, the things that you love about someone. So it's time

to focus on those not so positive traits, those things that we don't like about

people so much. Sometimes it's just true about life. There are people that we

don't like or there are things that we don't like about people. So how do you

talk about those in English? That is what we're going to focus on today. In the

online lesson, I do have a very long list of examples, vocabulary words, idioms that

we use to describe people but today in the video I'm going to focus on a few of

my favorites or words that I know that might be very new or even challenging in

English. So number one is the word aloof. If someone is aloof it generally means

not very friendly, they're very distant and cold, they don't feel engaged with

other people. They are aloof. Number two an armchair critic. I love this

expression. It means a chair where there are arms, you can rest your arms on the

chair and someone who just sits there and gives criticism that really isn't

helpful. Imagine that you're at a business meeting and every time you have

a business meeting the same person is always criticizing every idea but they

never provide their own ideas or solutions. He or she might be an armchair

critic. Number three a busybody. Do you have any idea what this one might mean?

We use this to describe a person who is always getting involved or always wants

to get involved in someone else's life. They're always trying to get information

and try to interfere with other people's lives. They want to know a little bit or

a lot about everyone. So maybe you have someone in your office who's a bit of a

busybody. Clingy. Clingy. This one is a way to describe someone

who always wants to be with you, they never leave you alone, they need you all

the time. And honestly this can get a little

annoying. If someone needs you all the time

they are clingy. Now I just use the word annoying and that makes me think of

another great word that has a similar meaning to being annoying: obnoxious.

Someone who is obnoxious is just annoying. They drive you crazy. Now

someone who is obnoxious could also be a wet blanket or a killjoy. These are

people who unfortunately steal all the fun. Every time you have a great idea or

if you're planning some fun party, a wet blanket or a killjoy always steals the

fun. They always find a reason why you can't or you shouldn't or they just

complain all the time and it's not fun to be around them which means they could

also be annoying and obnoxious. A know it all. A know it all is someone who thinks

they know it all, they know everything and of course that's not true but they

like to pretend or make you think that they know everything and again this can

be frustrating or annoying.

Picky. Do you know anyone who is picky? This is used to describe someone who is

really hard to please. Imagine that you have a friend that you really love to

spend time with, you enjoy conversation but you never go to a restaurant with

her because every time you try to go to a restaurant nothing ever satisfies her

or if you go to an Italian restaurant she can't eat pasta, if you go to another

restaurant she can't eat this or that or that.

She's maybe a little bit picky. Here's another one of my favorites to be full

of hot air. If I say oh he's just full of hot air it

means that someone just talks and talks and talks but there's no value, there's

no substance, there's nothing meaningful. It's just a

bunch of words. They're full of hot air. The next one is grumpy and I have to

admit I am a bit grumpy in the mornings before I have my coffee. I wake up

very sleepy and tired, I don't want to talk to anyone until I've had my cup of

coffee. Grumpy can mean a little bit

bad-tempered or to be in a bad mood. You're moody. And our last one for our

video lesson today is materialistic. Materialistic. This is used to describe

someone who is focused or even obsessed with possessions and money. All they

think about is getting more money so they can buy more things. They are

focused on material goods. They are materialistic. And now you have a big new

list of idioms and useful vocabulary to, yes, talk a bit negatively about others.

As I mentioned, in the online lesson you will find many more examples so that you

can really expand your vocabulary this week. And I do want you to try practicing

but this is a sticky topic. I would love for you to practice using some of these

expressions to describe some of the more negative traits of people that you know

but because we're focused on the negative I do want you to keep it

private, so no names. Just describe someone that you know. You can get more

information about the challenge question for this week in the online lesson and

of course the best place to share with me, get feedback from me, and learn from

others in the Confident English Community is in the comment section just

below the video. So check out the lesson, review the additional vocabulary, take a

look at the challenge question, and share with me a description of someone that

you know (with no names) with some negative characteristics. And with that

have a fantastic week. I'll see you next Wednesday for your Confident English

Wednesday lesson.