to be such a barmpot
- idiom
- Offensive
:
ser un idiota
- Don't be such a barmpot when making important decisions!
Examples
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She told him not to be such a barmpot during the important meeting.
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Please don't be such a barmpot—take things seriously for once.
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If you be such a barmpot again, you'll get into trouble.
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Why do you be such a barmpot at work?
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If you be such a barmpot again, you'll get into trouble.
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Please don't be such a barmpot—take things seriously for once.
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She told him not to be such a barmpot during the important meeting.
Synonyms
3
8.2
Being silly and slightly crazy in a way that seems funny and harmless
2
8.1
To act in a silly, embarrassing way to make people laugh
1
9.4
Act in a foolish way and ignore good advice
To behave in a silly or wild way that makes people laugh
Behave in a silly, not very smart way
Act in a silly or stupid way
To behave in a foolish and clumsy way
Antonyms
How Foolish
Surface Forms
Morphology
The structure 'be such a X' is fully compositional: if a learner knows the noun 'barmpot' as 'a foolish person', the overall meaning ('to be foolish/behave irrationally') follows directly from the constituents. Note that 'barmpot' is dialectal/slang and often absent from dictionaries, so many learners won't know the crucial noun, but given knowledge of all parts the phrase is transparent.
Etymology
Be such a barmpot comes from the old word barmpot for a silly person and from barm, the foam on beer that helped make the word 'barmy' for mad. So calling someone a barmpot gives the picture of a head full of foam and messy ideas, which is why it means 'to behave foolishly'.