20 Describing people: appearance Hair, face, skin and complexion /kam'plekfan/ rE She’s got straight hair She’s got long, wavy hair She’s got curlyhair _He’s got a crew-cut. and she’s thin-faced/ and she’s round-faced/ ands black, He's white, she’s gota thin face. she's gota round face. He’sbald /bo:ld/ and He’sgotabeardand He's gotreceding He used to have black has freckles. moustache /mus'ta:|/ hairanda few hair but now it’s gone andhasa chubby face. wrinkles /rinkalz/. _grey, almost white. What sort of person would you find attractive? Blonde, fair, dark or ginger-haired / red-haired? ‘She has such beautiful auburn hair. /'o:ban/ [red-brown] Fair and dark can be used for hair, complexion or skin. Some people like getting a tan in summer [exposing their skin to the sun so that it oes darker], although the risks of getting sunburnt are well known, Height and build Fat may sound impolite. Instead we can say that someone is rather plump or stout, or a bit overweight. If someone is broad and solid, we can say they are stocky. A person with good muscles can be well-built or muscular. [generally said about men] Someone who is very fat can be described as obese /aw'bi:s/, especially when talkingin a medical context. ‘Someone who is thin can be described as slim [positive] or skinny [negative]. someone has a nice figure, they have an attractive shape. [generally said about women) General appearance She's a very smart and elegant woman, always well-dressed; her husband is quite the opposite, very scruffy and untidy-looking / messy-looking. Chloe looked stunning in her red dress. [very attractive] He's very good-looking, but his friend’s rather unattractive. [opp attractive] Her eyes are her best feature, [the most attractive part ofher face) Do you think beautiful women are always attracted to handsome men? | don't. | think personality matters most. First impressions are always important. [your first reaction to someone) Ener ‘The suffix -ish is useful for describing people (see Unit 70). She's tallish. He has brownish hair. He must be thirtyish / in his thirties. English Vocabulary in Use Upper- intermediateTa 12 13 ae al FOR MURDER (JARMED ROBBERY ww frenglish ru Exercises Choose a word from the opposite page to complete these sentences. 1 IwishIcouldgeta a, __uuu.like yours but my skin just goes red in the sun. 2. Mycousinused tohavea lovely _..but she's puton weightin all the wrong places since she stopped taking much exercise. Thomas'seyesarehisbest. Jessisin her thirties but she still has the same lovely fresh ~ they're so large and sparklyand such a deep brown. asheryoung daughter has. 5. Staffat the bank were told to dress smartly for workso they would always createa good oncustomers. Vdeailher, rather than ginger-haired - herhair’s dark brown with justatinge of red init. Georgesaysthatthe -nunf0Und his eyes just show thathe has smiled lot in hislife Even injeansAlinamanagesto look... Carlalooks beautiulin old clothes and without any make-up but when she's dressed up for an evening out she’s absolutely ‘Answer these remarks with the opposite description. 1 A:| thoughtyou said he was the short, chubby one. B: No so, no, notatall he's the tall, thin-faced one. 2 AcWasthathisbrother, the one with wavy hair? B:No, completely the opposite, hisbrother’s 3. A:She's always quite well-dressed, so've heard. B: What! Who told you that? Every time Isee her, she's 4. ASoCharlene’s that rather plump, fair-haired woman, is she B:No, you're looking at the wrongone, Charlene’s ... 5 A:So, tell us aboutthenew boss; good-looking? B:No,|'mafraid not;rather 6 A:Idon’tknow why, but | expected the tour guide to be fiftyish or rather plump. B:No, apparently he’s only WANTED! MISSING! Complete the gapsin these police posters with your own i as) ery ns t lan Prowse ‘Sandra king Jasmin Kaur, Age7, | Jack ‘Dagger’ Flagstone White, height 6ft, White, height tt, White, height sft 4, o faced, hair, skin Write description of each of these people, giving information about their hair and face, their height and build and general appearance: Lyou yourself 2your bestfriend 3aneighbour 4 yourideal of ahandsome man / a beautiful woman English Vocabulary n Use Upper intermediate 28 pYvra dll) (eee a BY intellectual abi Tots of abi intelligent bright clever sharp shrewd able gifted talented brainy (informal) lacking ability ‘stupid foolish simple silly brainless daft dumb dim thick (the last five are predominantly informal words, and they can all be offensive) lever, in a negative way, using ‘cunning crafty sly brains to trick or decei BEL) Attitudes towards life Amal is pessimistic while Nia is opti ‘on the bright side. Itis strange that one of the twins is so extroverted while the other is so introverted - Ben loves being the focus of attention while Jake prefers to be alone with his thoughts. feel very tense (or wound up / stressed out*) after a very busy day at work but, after a hot bath, I'llsoon feel relaxed. le - she'd never do anything stupid. In other words, she's very practical and istic — he always expects the worst to happen while she looks Eva is very sen: down-to-earth. Roberto is very sensitive - he gets very upset (or worked-up, more informal), ithe feels people are criticising him, BE) “ttitude towards other people Enjoying others’ company: sociable _gregarious* Disagreeing with others: quarrelsome argumentative Taking pleasure in others’ pain: cruel _sadi Relaxed in attitude to self and others: easy-going even-tempered _laid-back** Not politeto others: impolite rude ill-mannered —_discourteous* Telling the truth to others: honest trustworthy reliable sincere Unhappy if others have what you do not have yourself: jealous envious EEE 2" person’s meat is another person’s poison ‘Some characteristics can be either positive or negative depending on your point of view. The words in the right-hand column mean roughly the same as the words in the left-hand column except that they have negative rather than positive connotations. positive associations Loe ‘obstinate stubborn stingy mean tightfisted —miserly* confident self-important arrogant full of yourself** unconventional original eccentric odd peculiar weird** frank direct open blunt abrupt brusque curt unprincipled permissive engi generous innocent ambitious aggressive bossy** "These words are much mare common in written than in spoken English. ** These words are much more common in spoken than in written English. 2 English Vocabulary in Use Upper- intermediate8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 ww frenglish ru Exercises Match the words on the left with their opposites on the right. 1 clever a introverted 2 extroverted b tight-fisted 3 rude © courteous 4 cruel gregarious 5 generous e kind-hearted 6 unsociable f dim these sentences? Reword each ive or vice versa). 1 Carmen's very thrifty. Likes - Carmen's very stingy. 5 Nico’s quite bossy. 2 Molly's usually frank. 6 find Marcus selfimportant. 3 Grace is quite broad-minded 7 Don’tyou think James is nosy? 4 Sam can be aggressive. 8 Freya is very original, Pair the words that have brainless - silly ilar meanings. brainless curt gifted rude tense brusque direct honest sensible _tight-fisted crafty down-to-earth impolite silly trustworthy cunning frank miserly talented wound up Magazines often publish questionnaires which are supposed to analyse aspects of your personality. Look at the words below and match them to the corresponding question. pessimistic argumentative sensitive sociable extravagant assertive inquisitive reltable Ifyouarrangeto meet at 7pm,doyouarriveat7 pm? reliable When youhavea problem, do you think the worstwillhappen? Do you find iteasy to tell your boss if you feel he or she has treated you badly? Doyoualwayslook out of the windowif you heara car draw up? 1 2 3 4 5 Doyou often buy your friends presents for no particular reason? 6 T 8 Doyou frequently disagree with what other people say? Doyou lie awake at night ifsomeone has said something unkind to you? Doyou preferto be in the company of other people? What questions like those in 8.4 could you ask to find out 1 thrifty Do you use up leftover food? 2 blunt 4 intelligent 6 original 8 stressed out 3 sensible 5 even-tempered 7 obstinate a personis the following? COTTE Ty Choose two people who are important in your life. Describe them using adjectives in this unit and give reasons why you chose each adjective. EXAMPLE My brother is sociable because he loves being with other people. English Vocabulary in Use Upper intermediate 23Pry Idioms describing people Positive and negative qualities positive negative She has a heart of gold. [very kind, generous] She'sas hard as nails, [no sympathy for others] He's as good as gold. (helpful, well-behaved; used He's a nasty piece of work. [unpleasant] generally for children) Note also: Her heart’s in the right place. [is a good and kind person even though they do not always seem so] He's such an awkward customer. [difficult person to deal with] She's a pain in the neck. Nobody likes her. [nuisance, difficult} He gets on everyone’s nerves. [irritates everybody] Idioms based on ‘head’ You can learn idioms by associating them with a key word or words. Two of the idioms in A, for example, are based on gold and two on heart. Here is a set of idioms describing people based on the word head. your head screwed on [be sensible, informal] ahead for heights [not suffer from vertigo] tohave | ahead likea sieve [bad memory] ‘a good head for figures [be good at maths] your head in the clouds [unaware of reality] to be head and shoulders above someone [much better than] to bury your head in the sand [refuse to think about a difficult situation in the hope you won't have to deal witht) to keep your head [stay calm in a dificult situation] How people relate to the social norm She's abit of an odd-ball. [peculiar strange] He's really over the top. [very exaggerated in behaviour] He's (gone) round the bend, if you ask me. [absolutely crazy/mad] My politics are very middle- of- the- road. [very normal; no radical ideas; neither left-nor right-wing] Who’s who in the class? Idioms for people in the classroom ‘Sam's teacher's pet. [teacher's favourite] Laura's top of the class. Harry is areal know-all. [thinks he knows everything] Ali's a bit of a big-head, [has a high opinion of him/herself] Anna’s a lazy-bones. The last three idioms are used of people outside the classroom situation too. English Vocabulary in Use Upper- intermediate9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 95 ww frenglish ru Exercises Try to complete these idioms from memory if possi 1 She doesa lot of voluntary work; she hasa heart... 92H 2 Don’t expect any sympathy from the boss; she's as hard 43 I'msure Ahmed willhelp you; he's as good... 4 Although Florian sometimes seems a bitbad-tempered his heart is 5 Idon’tthink you'll like him; he's a nasty 6 | try to avoid having much to do with Liam. He's rather an. What do we cal 1 anirritating person who knows everything? ,# Anew-all, 2 the person who isthe teacher'sfavourite? 3 someone who thinks they are the best and says so? 4 the one who getsthebest marks? 5 a person who is very lazy? . Complete the sentences using an idiom from B. 1 Vdbetterwriteitinmynotebook. have... 4 head ikea see 2 Ask Marthato check those sums. She has... 3 Don'task meto go up that tower. 'mafraid I dont. 4 She's very sensible and knows what she’s doing, She 5 He's quite out oftouch with reality. Hereally... .. 6 The problem won't go away so there's no point... 7 Maxistop of the class, . 8 Even when others around everyone else. are panicking Raul always Which part of the body might a difficult person (a) get on (b) be a pain in? Which of the idioms opposite do you think these pictures represent? English Vocabulary in Use Upper- intermediate 2526 EEC nits Types of relationship anita: Are you and Holly best friends? Lucy: She's a good friend - she’s not my bestfriend. ‘ANiTa: But she’s more than just a casual acquaintance’, right? lucy: Oh, yes. We were housemates? at university. ania: Really? So how did you first meet her? Lucy: I met her through my ex, Kallum. She wasn'tin a steady* relationship with anyone at the time, and she was looking for someone to share a room. ‘anita: Uh- huh. Is that Kallum who's now Olivia’s partner” tucy: Yeah, that's the one. They're not just partners, they're married and they're colleagues too. They're saving to buy a house now, so Kallum’s living with his parents-in-law* at the moment. a person you have met but you don’t know well? mate friend; nfl] is used in compound nouns to describe a person you share something with, e.g classmate, roommate, workmate, flatmate, housemate. Workmate is common in non-professional or informal contexts; colleague is common among professional people, and sounds more formal. > ex-can be used without (informally) or with another word: ex-girlfriend, exhusband, etc. “fixed and not changingsuddenly _° partners used for someone you live with but are not ‘married to, or fora business relationship where you share the ownership orrunning of company Shiswife’s, parents (his mother-in-law and father-in-law) Internet relationships Ifyoujoin a social network, you can acquire friends (people you share personal information with), and build up your list of contacts. You can invite people to become your friends, and you can ‘choose to accept new friends who invite you. You can interact with your friends by exchanging messages or posting comments on their page. You can also share photos and tag your friends (name them in photos that you post). Ifyou want to finish a relationship, you can unfriend/ defriend that person Liking and not liking someone core verb positive stronger) negative tke love adore idolise dislike can'tstand loathe /lov0/ respect lookupto admire lookdownon despise attract beattractedto fancy (inf!) leave someone cold ‘She doesn’t just like Ben, she idolises him. | can’t stand him. I really fancy Charlotte, but her friend just leaves me cold / doesn’t do anything for me. Phrases and idioms for relationships and dating Lily and | get on well (with each other). [have a good relationship] Jack and Amelia don’t see eye to eye. [often argue/disagree] I've fallen out with my parents again. [had arguments] Carl is having an affair with his boss. [a sexual relationship, usvally secret] Let's try and make it up. [be friends again after a row/quarrel] He's dating a Spanish girl. They've been seeing each other for a couple of months. [meeting and spending time together] They met at a party and got together soon after. [started a romantic relationship] feria) We say: People make friends. (NOT getrieneds or fine-friends) It’ often difficult fo make new friends when you move to another city. (NOT it's often difficult to get friends.) English Vocabulary in Use Upper- intermediate10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 ww frenglish ru Exercises Use words with the suffix -mate to rewrite these sentences. 1 Thisis Jack. He andI share a flat. “isis Jack He and lare flatmates. 2 Mike was the person I shared room with atuniversity. 3 Wewere in the same class togetherin 2006, weren't we? 4 She'snotreallya friend; she'sjustsomeone | workwith, 5 Abbieis always arguing with the people she shares a house with, How many sentences can you write about the relationships between the people in the pictures, using words from the opposite page? EXAMPLE Jon and Erica are colleagues. "Baa ° ‘= 2 Lae ‘Complete the text messages with the correct form of words from B opposite. Have you checked your social media this morning? Sam has photo and? _....itwith everyone! © /ou in a really funny My grandma has just” me to be her friend online! Don't know if | should ‘ _.OF not, Frm going to. Emma if she keeps posting nasty ®. about me online. What do you think the relationships between the people below would be? Use the verbs, phrases and idioms opposite. 1 a teenage music fan: (a) parents He/ She might like/ dislike his/ her parents. (b) pop star (c) strict teacher (d) mate 2 apersonal assistant: (a) another personal assistant (b) the boss (c) a very attractive workmate 3. 245-year-old: (a) teenagers (b) ex-husband/wife who was cruel Correct the mistakes in these sentences. There may be more than one mistake. 1 Rosie and Matt don’t géton eye to eye. 2 | fell up with my parénts last night. It wasn't my fault. 3 We had a quarrel but now we've made it well. 4 Do you think Josh and Nuala are making an affair? | do. 5 | sce very well with al my colleagues at work. 6 Jo's attractive, but her mate just makes me cold completely. 7 Maria seems to find it cificult to get friends among her classmates. 8 I met my boyfriend ata party and we became together soon after ‘Complete the sentences so they are true for you. a nnnnsl8@ good friend Of MINE. a nannmnal justa casual acquaintance. Someone look up tois ..., _-Afamous person |loatheis Someone loncefanciedwas ‘Someone adoreis English Vocabulary in Use Upper- intermediate 27